No. 1 Sooners Host Intrasquad Sat.

NORMAN, Okla. The No. 1 Oklahoma men's gymnastics team will host its annual Red-White Meet on Saturday, Dec. 2, at 2 p.m. in the Sam Viersen Gymnastics Center. Fans can get their first glimpse of the defending NCAA champions as they prepare for the upcoming 2007 season. Admission to the event is free.

Team co-captains Brian Carr and Jonathan Horton will lead the Red and White squads, respectively.

Joining Carr on the Red team are Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons, Joseph Weaver, Jason Laughton, Chris Brooks, Russell Czeschin and Garrett Carr. The White team will include Horton, Wes Aderhold, Kyle McNamara, Ian Jackson, Corey English and C.J. Grimes.

The Red squad will begin the competition on the floor exercise and then follow the Olympic rotation (floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars and high bar). The White squad will start on the pommel horse and then flip-flop events with the Red team (pommel horse, floor exercise, vault, still rings, high bar and parallel bars).

Six gymnasts from each will compete on each apparatus with the top three scores counting towards the team total. The intrasquad event will be scored by four certified judges.

2007 Schedule | 2007 Roster Directions to the Viersen Center

Oklahoma has claimed four of the last five NCAA crowns under eighth-year head coach Mark Williams, and is looking for the program's first “three-peat.”

“This is the formal kickoff for our 2007 season,” Williams said. “It's the first chance for our guys to perform in front of judges and for us to get a look at our freshmen.”

Williams, a four-time National Coach of the Year, owns a 169-13 (.929) in seven seasons at Oklahoma. In October, Williams was chosen to lead the U.S. National Team at the 2006 World Championships in Denmark.

The majority of last year's championship squad returns. Of OU's school-record 14 All-America honors earned at last season's NCAA finals, only Jamie Henderson (All-American on parallel bars and still rings) is lost.

This year's Sooner team will be led by 2006 NCAA all-around champion Jonathan Horton. The Houston, Texas, native earned All-America honors on five events in 2006, tying his own school record set the year before and breaking two-time Olympic gold-medalist Bart Conner's school record for career honors (10). Horton also claimed three event titles at the 2006 NCAA Championships, setting another OU record and tying Conner's record for career titles (3). In September, Horton finished second at the Visa U.S. Championships and was appointed to the U.S. team for the 2006 World Championships.

Other returning All-Americans for OU include Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons (all-around, vault and parallel bars), Chris Brooks (high bar), Brian Carr (pommel horse) and Reed Pitts (floor exercise and vault).

The Sooners officially open the 2007 season at the Rocky Mountain Open, Jan. 12-13, in Colorado Springs, Colo.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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