Men's 2008 Schedule Announced

Nov. 7, 2007

NORMAN, Okla. - The seven-time NCAA champion Oklahoma men's gymnastics team and head coach Mark Williams announced the Sooners' 2008 schedule Wednesday.

OU will compete in 10 regular season meets, including three home contests and will face all of the nation's preseason top-10 teams before beginning its run at a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and NCAA title.

"We're excited to get the season going and hopefully make a run at another conference and national championship," Williams said. "We're going to once again have a very ambitious schedule that includes the top-ranked teams in the country."

Williams' squad will open the season Jan. 12 at the Rocky Mountain Open, hosted by Air Force. OU has dominated the collegiate division of the event in recent years, including a nearly 20-point triumph last season. The Sooners will face off against the Falcons again a week later as they travel to Lincoln, Neb., for a tri-meet against Air Force and the fellow MPSF rival Cornhuskers.

2008 Men's Gymnastics Schedule

Oklahoma opens its home season on Jan. 26 against sixth-ranked Michigan at the Howard McCasland Field House.

"The Michigan meet will probably be our first big score of the season," Williams said. "We lost to Michigan last year in a dual meet in Ann Arbor, so we're definitely going to want to establish ourselves as the better team this year."

The Sooners' Feb. 1 home date with Nebraska will be a double dual featuring both schools' men's and women's teams. The event will be held at the Lloyd Noble Center and will be OU's third meeting with its old Big Eight rivals in 2008.

After a road meet on Feb. 16 at Iowa, the Sooners will head to Oakland, Calif., for the 2008 Pacific Coast Classic. The event is one of the nation's premier collegiate gymnastics invitationals with a field that includes six teams ranked in the preseason GymInfo top 10. The Sooners have had tremendous success at the meet, winning the team title in both appearances in 2006 and 2007.

In March, the Sooners face major road tests at rival Ohio State (March 3) and defending national champion Penn State (March 22).

"Ohio state and Penn State in March are both big rivalries and we're getting close to the conference and NCAA Championships," Williams said. "Both of those are on the road, so they're going to be really big tests for us."

Sandwiched between those two away meets will the OU's home finale, March 15 against Minnesota. The seventh-ranked Gophers were one of six teams to advance to last season's NCAA Team Finals.

The 2008 MPSF Championships will be hosted by Nebraska at the Bob Devaney Center in Lincoln. The Sooners will be seeking the program's fourth straight conference crown and ninth in the last 10 years. OU came from behind to edge Stanford for the league title last season by a 217.950-216.100 margin.

Stanford will host the 2008 NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships, April 17-19, at the Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif. Oklahoma narrowly missed the third-straight national title at the 2007 NCAA Championships hosted by Penn State, falling by just 0.8 points to the host Nittany Lions. The Sooners have won four national titles in eight season under Williams, going back-to-back in 2003-2003 and 2005-2006.

The Sooners boast the last two NCAA all-around champions in Abdullah-Simmons (2007) and Horton (2006) and return six gymnasts with 30 career All-America honors between them.

Fans can catch a sneak peek of the 2008 OU squad when the Sooners host their annual Red-White meet at the Sam Viersen Gymnastics Center on Dec. 1. The event is free and open to the public. More information will be available closer to the meet date.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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