OU Posts Season High, Routs Iowa

Feb. 16, 2008

IOWA CITY, Iowa - The fourth-ranked Oklahoma men's gymnastics team posted its best score of the season, and Sooner gymnasts swept all six event titles en route to a 357.750-338.050 road victory over No. 10 Iowa Saturday afternoon. The Sooners' team total was the fourth-highest score registered by any team in NCAA competition this season.

"We struggled a little bit on pommel horse, but we definitely got some momentum and ended up finishing pretty well," said OU head coach Mark Williams. "Recording our highest team score at an away meet is impressive."

Oklahoma gymnasts set or tied 17 individual season highs, including team season marks by junior Russell Czeschin on floor exercise (15.450) and senior Jonathan Horton on high bar (15.450).

The Sooners started the meet on pommel horse, where Horton and Corey English tied for the event title with matching scores of 14.000, both individual season bests. The win marked the first career event title for English, a sophomore from Covington, La.

Oklahoma swept the top four spots in the floor standings, registering a team record 61.100. Czeschin took his second floor title of the season, tying his season best with a 15.450. Freshman Steven Legendre was second on the apparatus with a 15.350, while junior Chris Brooks, competing on floor for just the second time in 2008, registered a 15.250 to claim third on the event. Horton, in his first competition of 2008 on floor, scored a 15.050 to place fourth.

Final Results

The highlight of the afternoon came on vault, as Oklahoma scored a team season-best 63.800. That total marks the highest vault score in the NCAA in 2008. Once again OU swept the top four spot in the event standings, as Legendre captured his first vault title of the year with a 16.100. Freshman Bobby Shortle scored a season-high 16.000 to finish in second place, while Horton and sophomore Ian Jackson earned scores of 15.900 and 15.800 to finish third and fourth, respectively.

"The vaulting was awesome," Williams said. "Bobby stuck his vault, and Steven and Jonathan both did double fronts and landed pretty well. That's been an event we've been pretty consistent on this season. It was definitely a high point today."

On the still rings, senior Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons earned his second event title on the apparatus this year, tying his season high with a 15.600. Jackson was second with his own season best (15.150), while junior Jacob Messina tied his season high set at last week's Winter Cup Challenge to place third (15.000).

Oklahoma once again claimed the top four spots on high bar, as Horton set a personal and team best with a 15.450. Brooks was second with a 14.450, while Abdullah-Simmons claimed third place with a season-high 14.350. Rounding out the OU score on the event was junior Jason Laughton (14.150).

The Sooners finished the meet on parallel bars, recording another team season high with a 59.100 total. Abdullah-Simmons won his second event title of the afternoon with a 15.100, while English (14.500), Messina (14.750) and Brooks (14.950) all recorded personal bests.

"We're getting better," Williams said. "I think we still have plenty of room for improvement. I think this was a good preview for next week's competition, which will be a huge test for us."

Oklahoma travels to Oakland, Calif., on Feb. 23 for the Pacific Coast Classic. The nation's premier invitational event, the Pacific Coast field includes six of the top 10 teams in the latest GymInfo rankings.

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