Sooner Gymnasts At USA Qualifiers

NORMAN, Okla. Three members of the Oklahoma men's gymnastics team along with assistant coach Guard Young will compete at the 2004 USA Men's National Qualifier at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Saturday, April 24.

The meet will consist of some of the nation's best male gymnasts including Oklahoma senior Heath Mueller, junior David Henderson and sophomore Jamie Henderson.

The men's qualifier is the only route for athletes not already on the Senior National Team to qualify for the 2004 U.S. Championships, June 2-5 in Nashville, Tenn., the 2004 U.S. National Team program, and to qualify to compete in the 2004 Olympic Trials, June 24-27 in Anaheim, Calif.

“This is a tough competition and maybe even more so this year because the time in between qualifiers and the NCAA Finals is so short,” said Oklahoma head coach Mark Williams. “It helps because these guys are still in great shape but it may difficult to get emotionally charged for this after being drained from the team season. Competing as individuals is always different and the key for them is to be consistent in all six events.

“It will be an extremely competitive field but I think our guys are capable of advancing. There are not that many people that advance but hopefully David and Jamie can peform this weekend and get it done. I think an all-around score in the 54 range is what is needed to get to the U.S.A Championships and they are both capable of doing that.”

The Hendersons will aim to finish in the top 13 in order to qualify for the USA Championships. Mueller and Young have previously qualified for the June championships and will use Saturday as tune-up before the championship meet.

Both the Henderson's are eligible for this weekend's qualifiers for scoring an all-around score of 50.000 or above during an NCAA sanctioned meet. David Henderson was ranked ninth in the nation in the all-around with a 53.505 while Mueller was 10th with a 53.390 average.

“This is an individual competition so the atmosphere is going to be completely different,” said David Henderson. “This is more of a self-driven event and I have been doing this for five years and this year is extra special because it is an Olympic year. This is one of my ultimate goals, this is why you do gymnastics. Obviously we all want to qualify but I think also that you are out there to give your best effort and make a name for yourself in the sport.”

Mueller pre-qualified for the U.S. Championships by finishing fourth in the all-around at the 2004 NCAA Championships behind Penn State's Luis Vargas (Puerto Rico), Stanford's Dan Gill (pre-qualified) and Ohio State's Randy Monahan. Young joins Gill as gymnasts that were already qualified for the U.S. Championships because of their Senior National Team status.

“Heath will concentrate on just three events (parallel bars, high bar and pommel horse) and we will keep him off floor, vault and rings in an effort to rest him after NCAAs,” added Williams. Heath and Guard are both out there to get some repetitions and it is especially important for Guard since he does not have the amount of actual competitions that the college guys have. The selection committe for the Olympics will be there and it will be good for Heath and Guard to show the committe if they can contribute to the U.S.A team for the Olympics.”

In order to qualify for the U.S. Championships athletes must meet one of the following criteria:

Sr. National Team members selected from the 2003 U.S. Championships and 2004 Winter Cup
Challenge
The top three All-Around athletes from the final ranking at the 2004 NCAA Championships (that were not
already pre-qualified)
Top 13 All-Around athletes from the April 24 qualifying competition
Top two three-event qualifiers, top two four-event qualifiers and the top two five-event qualifiers who finish
among the top 13 qualified all-around athletes using three-event, four-event, or five-event totals.
Individual event specialists placing first or second on their apparatus at the qualifier.
Approved Petitions

Click here for more information on the USA qualifiers and championships.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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