OU Women Set to Face No. 6 Huskers

NORMAN, Okla. -- Coming off a first place finish in last weekend's quad meet at Texas Woman's University, eighth-ranked Oklahoma faces its first conference road test of the season, traveling to Lincoln, Neb. to face the sixth-ranked Cornhuskers on Friday, Feb. 2.

The meet, scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. (CST) start at the Bob Devaney Sports Center, will be a double dual featuring both the Sooners' and Huskers' men's and women's teams.

Nebraska (6-1) holds a 56-16 series advantage all-time against OU (5-1). The Sooners last beat the Huskers at the 2004 Big 12 Championships, Oklahoma's first Big 12 crown.

OU will be led by senior Brittney Koncak-Schumann, the Big 12's second-ranked all-around competitor, and junior Kiara Redmond, who scored the conference's first perfect score of the season on vault at last weekend's TWU quad meet. Redmond's 10.0 placed her in the OU record books with Leah Mueller (2002) and Amber McCracken (2000) as the only Sooners to earn a perfect vault score.

Koncak-Schumann is a two-time Big 12 Gymnast of the Week honoree in 2007, while Redmond was named Event Specialist of the Week for her performance at TWU.

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Nebraska counters with junior Emily Parsons, herself a two-time conference honoree in 2007. Parsons is among the nation's top 10 on the floor exercise (seventh) and balance beam (third) and is ranked No. 1 nationally on vault (OU's Redmond is fourth).

The Huskers also have the reigning conference Gymnast of the Week in junior Desire' Sniatynski, who scored a career-high 39.275 to take the all-around title in Nebraska's Jan. 27 win over Big 12 rival Missouri.

Nebraska and OU are the top two Big 12 teams in the latest GymInfo rankings released on Jan. 29. The No. 6 Huskers boast a season scoring average of 195.908, half a point higher than No. 8 Oklahoma's 195.408 average.

Live stats of Friday's meet will be available via the live stats link on SoonerSports.com, as well as at Huskers.com. Scores will be updated following each rotation.

SETTING THE SCENE
What: No. 8 OU (5-1) at No. 6 Nebraska (6-1)
Where: Lincoln, Neb. at the Bob Devaney Sports Center (13,500)
When: Friday, Feb. 2, 2007 at 7:30 p.m. (CST)
Live Scores: Live stats of Friday's meet will be available via the live stats link on SoonerSports.com, as well as at Huskers.com. Scores will be updated following each rotation. The link should become available approximately one half hour prior to the start of the meet.
What 2 Watch 4: Friday's matchup will feature two of the nation's best vaulters in Nebraska's Emily Parsons and OU's Kiara Redmond. Parsons is No. 1 in the Jan. 29 GymInfo rankings with a vault average of 9.958 and a high score of 9.975. Redmond, ranked fourth in the GymInfo rankings, boasts a 9.908 average and the Big 12's only perfect 10.0.

The Nebraska meet should also be a return to normal for 2006 Big 12 all-around champion Brittney Koncak-Schumann. After rising to No. 3 in the national all-around ranking on Jan. 22, a minor knee injury hampered her in the TWU meet, but OU's senior leader is expected to be back to 100 percent.

Sophomore Haley DeProspero will also make her 2007 all-around debut for the Sooners on Friday. The McKinney, Texas, native won six event titles as a freshman in 2006.

COMING UP NEXT...
Friday's meet is the second in a string of five straight road competitions for the Sooners. After the double dual with the Huskers, OU faces Cal, Air Force and Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz. on Fe. 9 and visits both Iowa State (Feb. 16) and Iowa (Feb. 18).

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.

OU EIGHTH IN GYMINFO POLL
The Oklahoma women's gymnastics team remained at No. 8 in latest GymInfo poll released on Jan. 29. The ranking is the Sooners' highest since coming in at No. 6 in the March 27, 2006 poll. OU began the 2007 season ranked 10th. The Sooners are second among all Big 12 teams behind No. 6 Nebraska. In the national event rankings, OU is fifth on vault, ninth on bars and 12th on beam and floor.

SHE'S SO PERFECT
Junior Kiara Redmond recorded a perfect 10.0 on the vault in OU's Jan. 27 quad meet victory over Texas Woman's, George Washington and Centenary. Redmond's 10 was the first recorded by a Big 12 gymnast in 2007. LSU's Ashleigh Clare-Kearney is the only other gymnast to posted a perfect vault score this year. Redmond joins Leah Mueller (2002) and Amber McCracken in the OU vaulting record books.

SOONERS DOMINATE BIG 12 WEEKLY AWARDS
For her perfect vault performance on Jan. 27, Kiara Redmond was named the Big 12 Event Specialist of the Week. With the honor, OU gymnasts have won four of the eight weekly awards handed out by the conference so far this season. Brittney Koncak-Schumann has twice been named Big 12 Gymnast of the Week, while Lori Winn was the Event Specialist of the Week for Jan. 16.

Big 12 Gymnast of the Week
Jan. 9 - Janet Anson, Iowa State
Jan. 16 - Brittney Koncak-Schumann, Oklahoma
Jan. 23 - Brittney Koncak-Schumann, Oklahoma
Jan. 31 - Desire' Sniatynski, Nebraska

Big 12 Event Specialist of the Week
Jan. 9 - Emily Parsons, Nebraska
Jan. 16 - Lori Winn, Oklahoma
Jan. 23 - Emily Parsons, Nebraska
Jan. 31 - Kiara Redmond, Oklahoma

MANTLE STEPS UP TO THE PLATE
Freshman Mary Mantle has proven to be a valuable contributor for head coach K.J. Kindler through the first three meets of the season. After competing as a vault specialist in the Sooners' first two events, Mantle was thrust into the lineup on bars and floor in the TWU quad meet on Jan. 27. The Bellvue, Colo. native responded, turning in scores of 9.725 on both events in helping No. 8 OU improve its record to 5-1 on the season.

KONCAK-SCHUMANN GOES BACK-TO-BACK
Oklahoma's Brittney Koncak-Schumann was named the Big 12 Gymnast of the Week for the second week in a row on Jan. 23. The honor was the sixth of her career.

The 2006 Big 12 all-around champion won the all-around (39.325), uneven bars (9.875) and balance beam (9.95) titles in the Sooners' home-opening win over Central Michigan and No. 22 Missouri. Her balance beam score was a career-high. She also finished fourth on vault (9.85).

She is currently ranked No. 3 nationally in the all-around and is second in the country on beam.

Koncak-Schumann won three Big 12 weekly honors in 2006, and she is the first to win back-to-back honors this season. Nebraska's Emily Parsons and Iowa State's Janet Anson took home consecutive honors last season.

RECORD BREAKERS
Five OU gymnasts recorded career highs against Missouri and Central Michigan on Jan. 19. Senior Brittney Koncak-Schumann scored a near perfect 9.95 on beam, while junior Stephanie LoPiccolo was right behind her with a 9.925.

Sophomore Ashley Jackson topped her previous best with a 9.875 on vault, and a pair of freshmen, Jacqueline Flanery (9.825/FX) and Kristin Smith (9.675/FX) also set new benchmarks in their short OU careers.

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).

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).

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.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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