Men's Gymnastics Season in Review

NORMAN, Okla. -- The 2007 Oklahoma men's gymnastics team narrowly missed the program's first three-peat as national champion. Locked in a battle with the championship host Penn State, the NCAA crown came down to the final event as OU, finishing on vault, couldn't overcome the Nittany Lions' strong performance on the rings. Oklahoma finished with a 220.200 to Penn State's 221.000. The Sooners, led by head coach Mark Williams, recorded their third runner-up finish in his tenure (4 NCAA titles)

The weekend did not end without OU adding some hardware to its trophy case, however. Junior Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons turned in perhaps the best performance of his OU career to claim the NCAA all-around national title. The Philadelphia, Pa., became the second consecutive Sooner to earn the individual title, as classmate Jonathan Horton won the championship in 2006. Abdullah-Simmons also claimed All-America honors in the all-around and on vault, high bar and still rings.

Horton also made history at the event, winning NCAA event titles on the high bar and floor exercise. With five career individual national titles, Horton broke Bart Conner's school record. The Houston, Texas, native also broke Conner's program mark for career All-America honors, earning the distinction on five events (AA, FX, SR, HB, V) to up his career total to 15, while also tying the school record for honors in a season.

For the fourth straight year Oklahoma led the nation, acquiring 11 total All-Americans at the NCAA Championships. In addition to the nine All-America honors won by Horton and Abdullah-Simmons, sophomore Russell Czeschin (FX) earned the distinction for the first time in his career, while Chris Brooks repeated as an All-American on high bar.

Horton also claimed another prestigious title in 2007. At the Tyson American Cup in Jacksonville, Fla., on March 3, against a field of the world's top gymnasts, he claimed his second consecutive Cup championship, edging Japan's Nakase Takuya. Horton became the first male gymnast to win back-to-back Tyson American Cup titles since the USA's Blaine Wilson won three straight from 1997-99.

Prior to the NCAA Championships, the Sooners continued their reign in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Despite season-ending injuries to Jacob Messina and Reed Pitts, and losses to Michigan and Ohio State, head coach Mark Williams led the Sooners to the program's eighth MPSF conference championship on the campus of the University of California-Berkeley. Horton and Abdullah-Simmons finished first and second, respectively, in the all-around standings.

Horton also took defended his conference titles on rings and floor and tied for first on the high bar en route to his second consecutive MPSF Gymnast of the Year award. Williams was also honored as the conference's Coach of the Year for the seventh time in his eight seasons at Oklahoma.

The Sooners finished the season with a record of 26-4. Ten different gymnasts accounted for 43 individual event titles throughout the season.

2007 Team Season Highs	Score	Date Set
Floor Exercise	38.400	3/31/07
Pommel Horse	35.200	3/17/07
Still Rings	38.300	4/13/07
Vault	36.500	3/17/07
Parallel Bars	37.400	1/27/07
High Bar	37.400	3/17/07
Total	220.500	3/17/07

All-Around Champion
Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons scored a career-best 55.75 to take the 2007 NCAA all-around title. With the win, Oklahoma can claim the last two NCAA all-around champions. Jonathan Horton followed up his 2006 all-around win with a tie for second place in 2007. The OU duo are the first teammates to win back-to-back all-around titles since Ohio State's Raj Bhavsar (2002) and Jamie Natalie (2001). Abdullah-Simmons and Horton are the first Oklahoma gymnasts to achieve the feat.

One for the (History) Books
Jonathan Horton scored NCAA individual national titles on the floor exercise and high bar at the 2007 NCAA Championships, passing two-time Olympic gold-medalist Bart Conner for the top spot in the OU record books. The Houston, Texas, native now owns five career national titles. Horton also tied his own school record with five All-America honors to bring his career total to 15, again passing Conner (14) in the OU history books. He was also the first OU gymnast to win consecutive floor exercise titles since Odess Lovin took the crown in 1972 and 1973.

11 All-Americans
Oklahoma once again led all schools with 11 All-America honors, followed by Stanford and Minnesota with seven honorees each. In addition to Horton's record-tying five honors (AA, FX, HB, SR, V), Abdullah-Simmons upped his career total to nine with four awards (AA, V, HB, SR). Earning the distinction for the first time was Russell Czeschin (FX), while Chris Brooks repeated as an All-American on high bar. 2007 marked the fourth straight year for OU to lead the nation in total All-America honors.

The Williams Legacy
Though his team did not win a third straight national title in 2007, the Sooners' second-place showing contunied another impressive streak under head coach Mark Williams. Since finishing fourth in his first full season at the helm in 2000, OU has finished no lower than second in its quest for the title. Oklahoma is the only team to finish in the top four at the NCAA Championships every year since 2000.

MPSF "Three-peat"
OU continued its dominance of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in 2007, winning its third straight conference crown. The Sooners had to come from behind, but posted a 217.950 to runner-up Stanford's 216.100 to claim the program's eighth conference title in nine years. As a team, Oklahoma scored a school record 38.400 on floor. Following the competition Horton was named MPSF Gymnast of the Year for the second consecutive time, while Williams earned Coach of the Year honors for the seventh time in his eight seasons at Oklahoma.

MPSF Individual Championships
Not only did the 2007 Sooners produce the program's eighth MPSF Championship, they also accounted for four individual titles, all from Jonathan Horton. Horton won his second MPSF all-around title with a score of 55.500. He 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. Abdullah-Simmons was second in the all-around standings with a season-high 54.600 total.

Senior Salute
The close of the 2007 season marked the end of a successful and improbable gymnastics career for senior Brian Carr. At 6-1, Carr, a co-captain of the 2007 OU squad, was thought too tall to be an elite gymnast. But the Mandeville, La., product convinced Williams to give him a chance and he didn't disappoint. Carr was a member of two NCAA Championship and three MPSF title-winning teams. He earned All-America honors on pommel horse at the 2006 NCAA Championships and was the Sooners' top scorer on the event in 2007. He also won two high bar titles during his senior season. For his achievements Carr was named one of eight finalists for the Nissen Emery Award.

Off the Floor Success
In addition to the team's success on the competition floor, Oklahoma also excelled in the classroom. Five Sooners (Brooks, Czeschin, Messina, Brian Carr and Wes Aderhold) earned Academic All-MPSF honors.

Messina was also nominated for the Norman United Way Volunteer of the Year award for his work with students at Cleveland Elementary.

Individual Season Highs	Score	Gymnast(s)
All-Around	55.95	Jonathan Horton
Floor Exercise	9.8	Jonathan Horton
Pommel Horse	9.0	Brian Carr, Jason Laughton
Still Rings	9.85	Jonathan Horton
Vault	9.3	Jonathan Horton
Parallel Bars	9.65	Jonathan Horton
High Bar	9.8	Jonathan Horton

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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