Three Sooners Head To U.S. Gymnastics Championships

NORMAN, Okla. - The 2004 U.S. Gymnastics Championships will be held on June 2-5 in Nashville, Tenn., and three representatives from the University of Oklahoma men's gymnastics team will be taking the next step towards making the Olympic team.

The meet will feature the nation's best male gymnasts including recent graduate Heath Mueller, junior Jamie Henderson and assistant coach Guard Young.

The championships are the last chance for athletes to qualify for competition at the 2004 Olympic Trials, June 24-27 in Anaheim, Calif. The Nashville event will also determine a new 14-member men's national team, which will remain entact for the 2005 National Championships.

“The U.S. Championships are 40 percent of the qualification to the Olympic Team,” said Oklahoma head coach Mark Willaims. “It determines the USA National team and the athletes who will advance to the Olympic Trials. Guard, Jamie and Heath are all looking forward to their opportunity to compete for a spot on the team and move onto the next step of the Olympic qualifications.”

Jamie Henderson will be at the U.S. Championships next week after finishing in the top 13 of the all-around at the USA qualifiers (April 24) in Colorado Springs, Colo. Henderson posted a 54.025 finishing fourth overall and first among qualifiers at the meet. He only trailed Brent McClure (56.025), Alexander Artemeu (55.250) and Todd Thornton (54.625), all gymnasts that had previously qualified for the U.S. Championships.

“I just want to compete well at championships and see what happens,” said Henderson. “If I have a good meet, it would be great to make the trials.”

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.

“This may be my last competition. I want to compete well and see where I finish up,” added Mueller. “I've had an exciting career and look forward to competing with the best guys in the country.”

At the qualifiers, Young competed on three events and finished first on the vault with a 9.55 and second on both the floor and parallel bars with scores of 9.375 and 9.55 respectively. Mueller was solid on his three events at the qualifiers, finishing in the top 15. Mueller competed on the high bar, parallel bars and pommel horse.

“This is my last opportunity to go through the Olympic selection process,” Young said. “I'm doing very well in training. I plan to make the most of the competition in Nashville and advance to the trials.”

Then men will compete on Wednesday, June 2 at 7 p.m. (EST) and Friday, June 4, also at 7 p.m. Click here for more information on the U.S. Championships.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Three Sooners Head To U.S. Gymnastics Championships

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