No. 1 Sooners Win Season Opener

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The No. 1 Oklahoma men's gymnastics team began its NCAA title defense in successful fashion with a victory at the Rocky Mountain Open on Friday. OU opened the 2006 season with score of 208.85 to top Mountain Pacific Sports Federation foes Nebraska, ranked No. 10 in the coaches' preseason poll, (196.1) and Air Force (170.05).

OU won every team event, except for vault, en route to the seventh consecutive victory for the Sooners at the 20th-annual event hosted by the Air Force Academy.

“I thought we had a good start to the season,” said OU head coach Mark Williams. “I think we competed better in the first half of the competition, probably because of our high energy level. Towards the end of the competition our intensity level started to drop off and we struggled a bit, but I saw some good things and this meet gives us a good base to work with.

“It's always good to win an invitational, but with that we recognize that we have a lot of work to do to get better. We have to correct our mistakes and go from there.”

RMO Complete Results | 2006 Statistics

Sophomore Jonathan Horton led the way for the Sooners by taking first place in the all-around with a 52.6. Freshman Wesley Aderhold was solid in his first collegiate event, finishing second behind Horton with a 49.0 in the all-around.

Eleven Sooners qualified for Saturday's individual event finals by finishing in the top eight of each respective event on Friday. Day two will get underway at 2 p.m (CST) inside the Cadet West Gymnasium.

OU began the night on the still rings where senior captain Jamie Henderson led the way with a 9.45. Horton and fellow sophomore Jacob Messina posted scores of 8.9 and 8.65, respectively.

The Sooners then moved to vault, an event predicted by Williams as one of OU's strongest this year. Oklahoma was led by Horton (9.25) and freshmen Russell Czeschin (9.05) and Kyle McNamara (9.15).

The following rotation saw Oklahoma post a 33.45 on parallel bars. Sophomore Joseph Weaver picked up a career-high with a mark of 8.4.

Following the parallel bars, OU moved to high bar. Freshman Chris Brooks started the rotation with an 8.9 and junior Brian Carr followed up with a 9.1. Horton concluded Oklahoma's turn on the apparatus with a 9.05.

The Sooners moved to the floor exercise following the high bar and Czeschin posted an impressive score of 9.0. Senior James Myers and freshman Reed Pitts then posted identical score of 8.7 before Horton followed with a 9.05.

Oklahoma ended the night on the pommel horse where Henderson (8.2) and Messina (8.3) led the way.

The following Sooners qualified for Saturday's event finals:

Floor Exercise:                    Pommel Horse:                  Still Rings:
Jonathan Horton                  Jacob Messina                  Henderson
Russell Czeschin                 Jamie Henderson              Horton
James Myers                       Brian Carr                         Messina

Vault:                                  Parallel Bars:                      High Bar:
Horton                                Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons   Brian Carr
Kyle McNamara                  Horton                               Horton
Russell Czeschin              Joseph Weaver                 Chris Brooks

In the 2005 Rocky Mountain Open, Horton and Henderson combined for three first place finishes in the event finals. Henderson posted a 9.6 on the still rings to finish in the top spot while Horton took the individual title on the floor exercise (9.4) and the parallel bars (9.05).

OU returns to team action next weekend for the home opener against the Air Force Academy on Friday, Jan. 20 inside the McCasland Field House at 7 p.m.

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