Sooners Victorious in Home Opener

Jan. 26, 2008

NORMAN, Okla. - In a top-five showdown at the McCasland Field House Saturday night, the fifth-ranked Oklahoma men's gymnastics team opened its home season in style, defeating No. 2 Michigan, 351.400-347.000. Freshman Steven Legendre claimed his third straight all-around title with an 85.850 and OU scored team season highs on rings (60.000), vault (63.000) and parallel bars (58.550) to earn a thrilling come-from-behind victory.

"It's a little early in the season to put it all together," OU head coach Mark Williams said. "We had some mistakes, but being this early in the season I was happy with everyone's effort. To be able to beat a highly-ranked team like Michigan is a big boost."

Trailing by two full points, 114.800-112.800, after the first two rotations, Oklahoma surged back into the lead with outstanding performances on rings and vault.

Spurred on by a boisterous crowd of 1,485 that Williams called "the best we've had in several years," the Sooners closed the gap to 0.700 points on the rings. Senior co-captain Jonathan Horton, competing for the first time in 2008, scored a 15.600 to take the event title, while junior Jacob Messina recorded a season-high 14.950 to claim third place.

Final Results |

Photos | OU Season Stats

Moving to the vault, the Sooners took back the lead and never relinquished it. Though the Wolverines' David Chan took the event title with a 16.150, Oklahoma gymnasts claimed the next six spots in the standings. Freshman Bobby Shortle and sophomore Ian Jackson tied for second on the apparatus with matching scores of 15.850, while juniors Kyle McNamara and Russell Czeschin rounded out the OU score with a pair of 15.650s and in a tie for fourth place.

Horton claimed his second event title of the night on parallel bars, scoring a 15.150. Horton's classmate and co-captain Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons finished third with a 14.600, and Legendre and junior Chris Brooks earned matching scores of 14.400 to tie for fourth.

Legendre has been a key addition to the Sooner squad. In addition to his all-around win Saturday night, the Port Jefferson, N.Y., native also took his third consecutive floor exercise title with a 15.250.

"Steven has been really steady," Williams said. "For a freshman to win the all-around three weeks in a row is pretty awesome."

Saturday night's meet was billed as "Cleveland Elementary Night," as students, parents and teachers from the Norman school packed the Field House. Cleveland students served as junior judges, score flashers and awards presenters. OU gymnasts volunteer weekly at the school helping teachers and mentoring the children.

"It was a tremendous atmosphere tonight," Williams said. "The energy in the gym was wonderful. The Cleveland kids certainly helped us out on the competition floor when we got behind to dig deeper. It's exciting to have people come out and support us and we hope to see them again next Friday against Nebraska."

The Sooners will take on the Cornhuskers on Feb. 1 in a double dual featuring both schools' men's and women's teams. The meet is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.

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