Nine Gymnasts Earn Academic Honors

NORMAN, Okla. Nine members of the national champion University of Oklahoma men's gymnastics team were named All-America Scholar-Athletes by the College Gymnastics Association Monday.

As a team, Oklahoma placed sixth in the nation with a team grade point average of 3.137.

“We're very pleased with the overall GPA of our team throughout the season to add to the success of being national champions in 2006,” OU head coach Mark Williams said.

“I feel confident that we can now clearly be called champions both in and out of the classroom and I congratulate all our student-athletes who were All-Americans.”

Earning first team honors for the Sooners were Wes Aderhold (3.875), Russell Czeschin (3.872), Reed Pitts (3.786), and Chris Brooks (3.50).

Second team honorees included Brian Carr (3.37), James Myers (3.354), Jonathan Horton (3.28), Jamie Henderson (3.222) and Jacob Messina (3.222).

The CGA honored 55 gymnasts as 2006 first team All-America Scholar-Athletes for attaining a GPA of at least 3.50, and 56 second-team members with GPAs between 3.20 and 3.499.

Monday's honors continue a standard of excellence both in the gym and in the classroom under Williams.

The 2006 Sooners won the program's seventh NCAA title and fourth in the last five years.

Several of OU's CGA All-America Scholar-Athletes also earned NCAA All-America honors at the 2006 Men's Gymnastics Championships in Norman.

Henderson was an All-American on the pommel horse and still rings, and Carr earned his first All-America honor on the pommel, as did Brooks on the high bar. Pitts claimed All-America status on the floor exercise and vault.

2006 NCAA all-around champion Horton took All-America honors in the all-around, floor exercise, still rings, parallel bars and high bar, tying his own school record set in 2005 and breaking OU gymnastics legend Bart Conner's career record of nine.

In addition, Horton, Brooks, Messina and Henderson are among the six Sooners who will compete in the Visa U.S. Championships, Aug. 16-19 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

Team Rankings (Team GPA):
1.   Stanford - 3.567
2.   MIT - 3.192
3.   William and Mary - 3.186
4.   Navy - 3.178
5.   Illinois - 3.153
6.   OKLAHOMA - 3.137
7.   Temple - 3.094
8.   Michigan - 3.074
9.   Ohio State - 3.033
10. Springfield - 3.022

First Team:
Peter Derman, Stanford-4.0; Eli Alcaraz; Stanford-4.0, Matthew Heine, MIT-4.0; Dylan Carney, Stanford-3.95; Stephen Tetrault, Nebraska-3.949; Brice Rolston, Stanford-3.92; Arren Yoshimura, Michigan-3.908; Sean Blackman, Navy-3.89; Michael Boyer, Illinois-Champaign-3.875; Thomas Aderhold, Oklahoma-3.875; William Czeschin, Oklahoma-3.872; Richard Caldwell, Michigan-3.857; Andrew Malaby, Springfield-3.855; Matthew Elson, William and Mary-3.832; David Ferris, Navy-3.83; Matthew Cohen, Penn State-3.82; Michael Zielinski, William and Mary-3.80; Reid Vancelette, Iowa-3.796; Reed Pitts, Oklahoma-3.786; Andrew Elkind, Michigan-3.785; Tim Morrison, Illinois-Chicago-3.78; Luchas Buchholz, James Madison-3.768; Josh Goldman, Stanford-3.762; Chris Harper, Stanford-3.753; Mark Seske, Illinois-Chicago-3.75; Anthony Russo, Illinois-Champaign-3.743; Jason Russo, Temple-3.73; Jon Drollinger, Illinois-Champaign-3.722; Matthew Beaudette, Navy-3.72; Adam Reichow, Minnesota-3.693; Benjamin Gonsoulin, Iowa-3.69; George Rhynedance, Army-3.677; Aaron Ingram, William and Mary-3.67; Isaac Olson, Navy-3.66; Mike Oliveira, Army-3.644; Matthew Davis, Springfield-3.642; Mark Scialdone, James Madison-3.64; Brad Trompeter, Illinois-Chicago-3.631; Richard Mehlmann, Navy-3.63; Jacob Bateman, Ohio State-3.60; John Vogtman, Temple-3.60; Jacques Bouchard, Iowa-3.593; Derek Helsby, Penn State-3.57; Mark Freeman, California-3.562; Anthony Duong, Ohio State-3.56; Benjamin Carter, William and Mary-3.556; Nate Downs, Stanford-3.548; Kristopher Kline, Ohio State-3.54; Brett Wargo, James Madison-3.54; Kyle Brady, California-3.531; Alex Schorsch, Stanford-3.512; Charles Portz, William and Mary-3.511; Phillip Goldberg, Michigan-3.511; Zachary Eisenstat, MIT-3.50; and Chris Brooks, Oklahoma-3.50.

Second Team:
Chris Silcox, Illinois-Champaign-3.499; Scott Bregman, Michigan-3.491; Andrew DiGiore, Michigan-3.486; Brandon Cook, Navy-3.44; Sho Nakamori, Stanford-3.433; Aaron Rakes, Michigan-3.432; Cyrus Mallon, Vermont-3.427; Jacob Becker, Iowa-3.421; Brian Boardman, Air Force-3.41; Eddie Campbell, Minnesota-3.409; Timothy McNeill, California-3.405; Andrew Corp, Temple-3.40; Thomas Caldwell, M. I. T.-3.4; Sean Doolan, Stanford-3.392; Stephen Swider, Springfield-3.39; Joe Moore, Minnesota-3.389; Jeffrey Jaekle, William and Mary-3.386; Kyle Padera, Illinois-Champaign-3.383; Scott Flinn; James Madison-3.381; Jason Shen, Stanford-3.38; Brian Carr, Oklahoma-3.37; Chad Buszek, Penn State-3.37; James Wickham, Ohio State-3.37; Bryan Bourland, Iowa-3.364; Greg Monaco, Temple-3.36; T. J. Schmidt, Nebraska-3.36; James Myers, Oklahoma-3.354; Geoffrey Reins, Iowa-3.335; Michael Marino, Ohio State-3.33; Tyler Block, California-3.329; Brian Forquer, Temple-3.32; Ryan Hikel, James Madison-3.312; Sterling Kramer, Temple-3.31; Diego Rodrigo Mercado Austin, Iowa-3.307; Boris Raisin, M. I. T.-3.3; Andrew Hunt, William and Mary-3.3; Daniel Berlin, Temple-3.29; Matt Bowman, Penn State-3.29; Kyle Litow, California-3.287; Luke Bottke, Michigan-3.286; Colin Christ, California-3.284; Thomas Buese, Iowa-3.282; Jonathan Horton, Oklahoma-3.28; Harrison Reisweber, Springfield-3.266; Chris Lung, Illinois-Champaign-3.264; Ken Sloanhoffer, Springfield-3.254; Tyler Yamauchi, Illinois-Champaign-3.242; John Ferreira, Springfield-3.228; Angus Mudge, Vermont-3.226; Jamie Henderson, Oklahoma-3.222; Jacob Messina, Oklahoma-3.222; Patrick Bookjans, James Madison-3.215; Drew Ignoto, Iowa-3.211; Aaron Moy, California-3.208; Joshua Coblenz, M. I. T.-3.20; and Bradley Sutton, M. I. T.-3.20.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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