No. 13 Sooners' Home Opener Friday

NORMAN, Okla. -- After a near historic upset of No. 4 Alabama in Tuscaloosa last week, the 13th-ranked Oklahoma women's gymnastics team opens its home season against Central Michigan and Big 12 foe Missouri in head coach K.J. Kindler's debut in Norman.

The meet is scheduled for 7 p.m. (CST) inside the Howard McCasland Field House.

“We are eagerly anticipating our first home competition of the season,” head coach K.J. Kindler said. “We look forward to an energetic night of gymnastics in front of a great home crowd.”

The Sooners will be led by their two seniors, Brittney Koncak-Schumann and Lori Winn. Koncak-Schumann was named Big 12 Gymnast of the Week after finishing second in the all-around against Alabama, while Winn was tabbed the conference Event Specialist of the Week. Winn competed on three events for the Sooners, sharing the balance beam title with Koncak-Schumann.

Live Video | Photos | Free Video | Notes

Friday night's matchup will also mark the home debut for three OU freshmen. Jacqueline Flanery, Kristin Smith and Mary Mantle all turned in solid performances in their first collegiate competition.

Kindler's squad will look to rebound from last week's heartbreaker against the Crimson Tide against two quality opponents in the Tigers and Chippewas. OU held a commanding lead after two rotations in Alabama, but faltered on the floor exercise and balance beam, paving the way for the Tide's comeback win.

“Missouri and Central Michigan have both been a heartbeat away from qualifying to the NCAA National Championships in recent years,” Kindler said. “Our team has regrouped since Alabama and we have made significant strides on floor and beam this week.”

Missouri, ranked 26th in the latest GymInfo poll, is coming off a a 194.025-191.025 home win over Illinois on Jan. 12. The Tigers also competed in the Cancun Classic on Jan. 6, falling to No. 6 Iowa State, No. 20 Auburn and No. 23 BYU.

Central Michigan notched a 191.075-180.400 win over Illinois State on Jan. 12 in its season opener.

SETTING THE SCENE
What: OU (0-1) vs. Central Michigan (1-0) and Missouri (1-3)
Where: Norman, Okla. at the Howard McCasland Field House (2,000)
When: Jan. 19, 2007 at 7 p.m. (CST)
Ticket information: Student admission is free with a valid OU ID.
Public & Faculty/Staff - $7.00
Letterwinners - $5.00
Youth (K-HS) - $5.00
Group (10-99) - $3.00*
Group (100+) - $2.00*

Contact the OU Ticket Office (405) 325-2424 for season ticket information
* groups of 10 or more should call at least 24 hours in advance.

Seating: Seating will be restricted to the upper section of the McCasland Field House. All seating will be general admission. Doors open at 6 p.m.
Live Scores: Scores will be posted on SoonerSports.com after each rotation.
Promotions: T-shirts and glow sticks will be available for the first 200 fans.

Coming up Next...
OU hits the road for five consecutive meets, beginning with a Jan. 27 date with Texas Woman's University, Centenary and George Washington in Denton, Texas. The meet is scheduled for 7 p.m. (CST) inside the Kitty Magee Arena.

Oklahoma's next home meet will not be until March 3, when the Sooners host TWU at 7 p.m. in the Howard McCasland Field House.

Sooner Seniors Earn Big 12 Honors
Oklahoma's two senior gymnasts, Brittney Koncak-Schumann and Lori Winn, swept the Big 12 Conference's weekly honors for Jan. 16 after leading OU to a near upset of No. 4 Alabama on Jan. 12.

Koncak-Schumann, from McQueeney, Texas, was named the conference Gymnast of the Week after taking second in the all-around against the Crimson Tide with a score of 39.350, just 0.025 points behind Alabama's Kassi Price. She also shared the balance beam title (9.85), was third on uneven bars (9.85), sixth on floor exercise (9.85) and tied for seventh on vault (9.80).

Tuesday's honor marked the fifth career Gymnast of the Week award for the 2006 Big 12 all-around champion. She currently is the No. 1-ranked all-around performer in the Big 12 and sixth in the nation.

Winn, an Oklahoma City native, earned the first conference honor of her career. The Event Specialist of the Week is a new award for this season to recognize those who do not compete in the all-around.

Winn competed on three events for the Sooners at Alabama. She shared the balance beam title (9.85) with Koncak-Schumann while placing fourth on uneven bars (9.825). She also competed on floor exercise (9.75).

OU 13th in Latest GymInfo Poll
Oklahoma fell three spots in the latest GymInfo rankings after falling to No. 4 Alabama on the road. After debuting at No. 10 in the preseason coaches poll, the new rankings reflect NCAA team averages through Jan. 15.

Recapping Alabama
Oklahoma nearly pulled off the upset in head coach K.J. Kindler's debut. The Sooners led after three rotations before falling 195.700-194.500 in front of 11,996 at Coleman Coliseum the 12th-largest home crowd in Alabama history.

The Crimson Tide have never lost a non-conference home dual under 29th-year head coach Sarah Patterson.

The Sooners started strong, scoring a 49.050 on vault and winning the uneven bars by a 48.875-48.200 count. Oklahoma held a slim 146.475-146.250 lead after the third rotation, but falls on the floor exercise and balance beam, the team's final two events, proved costly.

Senior Brittney Koncak-Schumann (39.350) finished second in the all-around, just 0.025 points behind Alabama freshman Kassi Price (39.375).

Kiara Redmond, a junior from Los Angeles, Calif., tied for first place on the vault with a score of 9.85 and seniors Lori Winn and Brittney Koncak-Schumann shared the beam title, posting a pair of 9.85s.

Sophomore Ashley Jackson posted a 9.825 on vault to tie for fourth place. Koncak-Schumann (9.85) and Winn (9.825) also posted top five finishes on the uneven pars, finishing third and fourth, respectively. Sophomore Haley DeProspero scored a 9.775 to tie for fifth on the balance beam.

Starting Fresh(men)
Three Oklahoma freshmen saw the first action of their collegiate careers against the fourth-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide. Jacqueline Flanery, from Plattsburg, Mo., recorded a 9.775 on both the vault and floor exercise. Mary Mantle, a Bellvue, Colo. native, scored a 9.8 on the vault, the Sooners' second-highest score on the apparatus against the Tide. Oklahoma City native Kristin Smith scored a 9.0 on the floor in her debut.

Sooners Debut at No. 10
The University of Oklahoma women's gymnastics team is ranked No. 10 in the 2007 preseason GymInfo Coaches Poll. The top-10 ranking ties the Sooners' highest preseason poll position of the last 10 years. OU was also ranked 10th in the 2006 preseason poll.

“OU is honored to be placed amongst the top 10 teams in the country,” Kindler said. “We have strong leadership in our two seniors and will rely heavily on their guidance of a fairly young squad.”

Oklahoma finished the 2006 season ranked 10th nationally, tying for the second-best final poll position in school history.

Road Warriors
The Oklahoma women's gymnastics team will be either road-tested or road weary by the end of the 2007 season. Of the Sooners 11 regular season meets, only four take place within the friendly confines of the Howard McCasland Field House.

After starting the season on the road against Alabama, OU will return to Norman to face Missouri and Central Michigan on Jan. 19. Following the home season opener, head coach K.J. Kindler's squad faces a stretch of five consecutive away meets, including trips to No. 7 Nebraska (Feb. 2), No. 11 Arizona State (Feb. 9), and No. 13 Iowa State (Feb. 16).

OU hits the road one final time to face eighth-ranked Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif. on March 9.

The 2007 Big 12 Championships will also be away, as the event will be hosted by No. 18 Missouri in Columbia, Mo.

Oklahoma's seven away meets in 2006 are the most since OU went on the road eight times in 2005. The Sooners also traveled to seven away meets in 2004.

The five straight meets away from Norman (Jan. 27-Feb. 18) marks the second-longest road trip for OU in the last five years. The 2002 Sooner squad opened the season with seven consecutive away events.

Kindler Signs Three for 2008
First-year head coach K.J. Kindler announced her first Oklahoma recruiting class Friday, signing three gymnasts to National Letters of Intent. Taylor Zondervan, Natalie Ratcliff and Melanie Root will join the Sooners for the 2008 season.

“We are energized about the signing of Natalie, Taylor and Melanie,” Kindler said. “All three have extensive experience at the national level and will be key factors to the success of the OU program. Most importantly, they have expressed an excitement about OU and the goals we share for the gymnastics program.”

Zondervan, a Level 10 from Schoolcraft High School in Kalamazoo, Mich., trains at Geddert's Twistars, the former club of current OU gymnast Ashley Jackson. Zondervan was a member of the 2006 Junior Olympic National Team and finished fifth in the all-around, third on bars, fifth on beam and sixth on floor in the Senior B Division at the 2006 J.O. Nationals. She also captured the bars and floor titles at the 2006 Region 5 Regionals in Senior B and took 10th in the all-around at the 2005 J.O. Nationals. Zondervan plans on majoring in Zoology/Pre-Med at OU.

A native of Overland Park, Kan., Ratcliff is a member of Great American Gymnastics Express where she is coached by Al and Armine Fong and Rodney Gust. The Blue Valley Northwest High School senior and Level 10 gymnast is an eight-time Missouri State Champion and a former member of the U.S. National Team. An honor roll student at Blue Valley, Ratcliff intends to major in Elementary Education.

Root attends Cartersville High School in Cartersville, Ga., and trains at Cartersville Twisters. She is a three-time State Champion (2003, 2004 and 2006) and finished 15th in the all-around and 10th on beam at the 2006 Junior Olympic Nationals. She also qualified for Nationals is 2005 and was an alternate in 2003 and 2004. A Level 10, Root went pre-elite for a year in 2004. She plans to major in Management at OU.

Academic Excellence
The Oklahoma women's gymnastics team placed four members on the 2006 Academic All-Big 12 Team.

Kristen Cox, Tara Anderson and Brittney Koncak-Schumann were all named to the first team. Anderson and Koncak-Schumann were both nominated with a 4.00 grade point average. Junior Tiffany Willin of Fort Myers, Fla., was named to the second team.

The team received an overall GPA of 3.42 during the fall term, putting the squad No. 1 on campus among women's sports for the fall term and second among all sports. Four Sooner gymnasts finished the fall with a 4.0 GPA, while six earned a 4.0 GPA in the spring semester.

Brittney Koncak-Schumann, who maintains a 3.93 GPA in health and sports science, became the most recent Sooner student-athlete to earn first-team Academic All-America honors.

She was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Women's At-Large team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America. Koncak-Schumann was one of 16 women named to the first team. She advanced to national team consideration after being named to the first team All-District list in May.

2006 Team and Individual Honors
The following represents an overview of honors and awards accumulated by the OU women's gymnastics team during the 2006 season:

All-Americans:
Brittney Koncak-Schumann (All-Around, Floor Exercise)
Kiara Redmond (All-Around, Floor Exercise)
Stephanie LoPiccolo (Uneven Bars)

NCAA Central Regional Champions

Conference Champions:
Brittney Koncak-Schumann (All-Around)
Stephanie LoPiccolo (Uneven Bars)

Academic All-Big 12:
Kristen Cox (First Team)
Tara Anderson (First Team)
Brittney Koncak-Schumann (First Team)
Tiffany Willin (Second Team)

Academic All-American:
Brittney Koncak-Schumann

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors