OU Makes it Three-in-a-Row at MPSFs

BERKELEY, Calif. For the eighth time in the last nine years the Oklahoma Sooners are the champions of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Third-ranked OU won its third straight MPSF crown Saturday night at Haas Pavilion, scoring a 217.950 to beat runner-up Stanford (216.100) by nearly two points.

Jonathan Horton won his second MPSF all-around title with a 55.500. The Houston, Texas, native also tied for first on the high bar, matching his career high with a 9.8 and defended his 2006 still rings (9.8) and floor exercise (9.7) crowns. Horton also finished as the runner-up on parallel bars with a 9.3.

Horton's classmate, junior Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons, was second in the all-around standings with a season-high 54.600 total. Abdullah-Simmons also finished in a tied for second on vault with a season-best 9.1 and tied for third on the h-bar with a 9.3.

Final Scores

Oklahoma got a boost on the floor exercise, scoring an OU record 38.400. The previous school record of 38.050 was set on Jan. 20, 2007 against MPSF rivals Air Force and Nebraska. Three Sooners earned career highs on the event including freshman Ian Jackson (9.4), sophomore Russell Czeschin (9.65) and Abdullah-Simmons (9.45). Oklahoma swept the top three spots on the event with Chris Brooks (9.6) third, Czeschin second and Horton's first-place 9.7.

But the Sooners struggled on the pommel horse, scoring their second-lowest total of the season with a 32.850. OU was without senior co-captain Brian Carr who was held out of the event with a wrist injury.

"We didn't do a very good job on pommel horse," OU head coach Mark Williams said. "With the injury to Brian Carr's wrist that's a score that we've usually counted on. Luckily the rings team was willing to step up. We got right back into it on the last event and were able to pull it out.

"For us to come out with the conference championship even having those struggles I'm pretty happy with that."

Standing third going into the final rotation, the Sooners recorded their second-highest team score of the season on the still rings (37.650) to clinch the title. Abdullah-Simmons and Horton stuck OU's final two routines, scoring a 9.45 and 9.8, respectively.

"We really had to make a comeback,” Horton said. "We all knew what we had to do on rings. After Taqiy went, he hit a pretty solid routine, I knew I just needed to get up there and hit my routine and stick the dismount. I can always count on Taqiy to do really well and I just tried to do my best.”

"It's always a lot easier to do gymnastics when you know you've got Jon following you,” Abdullah-Simmons said. "I just knew that if I hit, Jon would hit and we'd win."

OU will take two weeks off before traveling to University Park, Pa. for the 2007 NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships, April 12-14, on the campus of Penn State University. The Sooners will be looking for a third straight NCAA crown after winning back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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