OU Serves Notice, Wins PCC Crown

OAKLAND, Calif. Oklahoma wanted to make a statement at the 2007 Pacific Coast Classic. The message? We're still the team to beat in college gymnastics. The third-ranked Sooners delivered loud and clear Saturday night at the Oakland Convention Center, scoring a season-high 218.450 to take their second straight Pacific Coast title.

Not only did OU avenge its Jan. 27 loss at No. 1 Michigan, but also defeated four other top-10 teams in No. 5 Stanford, No. 6 Illinois, No. 7 Minnesota and No. 8 California.

The fifth-ranked Cardinal (216.650) finished second in the team standings while Cal was third with a 214.750.

“We're definitely improving,” OU head coach Mark Williams said. “We put our healthiest team on the floor tonight at a time when we had the strongest competition all season. I was happy to see the team accept that challenge. They've got the hearts of champions. We just took it one event at a time and had our best meet of the season.”

Final Scores | USA Sports Management

Junior Jonathan Horton won his third all-around title with a season-high 55.95, while also claiming event crowns on rings (9.85) and floor (9.8). The Houston, Texas, native also finished second on high bar with a 9.5 and tied for third on parallel bars with a 9.3. Horton's 9.8 on floor tied his season high, while his 9.85 on rings tied his career mark.

Horton was also honored after the meet with the Aquafina Gymnast of the Meet award.

Also starring for the Sooners was sophomore Jason Laughton, who set or tied career highs on three of his four events. The Northridge, Calif., native tied his career mark with a 9.1 on p-bars, and set career highs on high bar and rings with a pair of 9.25s.

OU, tied for second place after the second rotation, took control on the floor exercise with Horton (9.8) and Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons (9.2) setting season highs.

Once in command, the Sooners separated themselves with a season-high team score of 35.100 on the pommel horse that also tied the school record under the updated FIG scoring rules implemented in 2006. Sophomore Garret Carr started the event strong for OU, tying his season high with an 8.3. Classmate Wes Aderhold followed with a career-best 8.65, while Laughton (8.75), Horton (8.75) and Brian Carr (8.95) all recorded their second-highest scores of the season on the apparatus.

Three OU gymnasts either set or tied career highs on rings, including Laughton, freshman Ian Jackson (9.3) and Horton, while the Sooners' team score of 37.750 on the event was a season high.

Saturday night's win should be a boost of confidence as the Sooners prepare for their stretch run through the MPSF and NCAA championships.

“It was nice to be able to come back and beat the No. 1 team in country, a team that had beaten us earlier in the season,” Williams said. “It was also good to have a chance to meet some of the West Coast teams we hadn't seen yet this year. The meet format was very similar to conference and NCAAs. It's a learning process to prepare for those types of meets and we handled it very well tonight.”

Oklahoma returns to action with another top-five showdown on Saturday, March 3. The Sooners host No. 4 Ohio State at 7 p.m. (CST) in the McCasland Field House.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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