OU Hosts Minnesota on Senior Night

Senior Night: No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 8 Minnesota
Date	Saturday, March 15 at 7 p.m. CDT
Location	Norman, Okla. \| Howard McCasland Field House
Tickets	OU Athletics Ticket Office \| Call (800) 456-GoOU
Online	Live Webcast on Oklahoma All-Access \| Free Live Scores
Promotions	Senior Night, Boomer Sooner signs, gymnastics bracelets

NORMAN, Okla. - Saturday night marks the final home meet for the third-ranked Oklahoma men's gymnastics team and senior co-captains Jonathan Horton and Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons. The Sooners will welcome eighth-ranked Minnesota to the Howard McCasland Field House for Senior Night at 7 p.m.

OU will be competing for the first time since finishing second at the Pacific Coast Classic in Oakland, Calif., on Feb. 23. The Sooners' March 8 dual at No. 7 Ohio State was cancelled due to blizzard conditions in Ohio.

"Because it's our last home meet of the season and because we're going to be recognizing our seniors, emotions are going to be high," OU head coach mark Williams said. "I feel like we've had two weeks of really good practices. Even last week I thought we were ready to do really well against Ohio State. Since we didn't have that competition I'm hoping that we can keep that energy moving and have a great meet this weekend."

Saying goodbye to Horton and Abdullah-Simmons won't be easy. During their four years in Norman, the pair has combined for 24 All-America honors, six individual NCAA titles and been a part of back-to-back national championship teams in 2005 and 2006. Horton and Abdullah-Simmons have also accounted for the last two NCAA all-around titles - Horton in 2006 and Abdullah-Simmons last season. No other team in NCAA men's gymnastics history has boasted two all-around champions on the same team at the same time.

Senior Salutes |

Media Guide |

Notes

"It's a time to be thankful for all that they've done during their careers here," Williams said. "Jon is going to be the most decorated OU gymnast ever and Taqiy may be right behind Bart Conner. We may be saying goodbye to the best duo in the history of the program. There are many intangibles about how they've been great leaders of the teams they've been on, and I just hope everyone realizes and appreciates what they've done."

OU will also honor team manager Joseph Weaver who was unable to compete this season due to a back injury. Weaver was also a member of OU's back-to-back national title teams in 2005 and 2006 and was a solid contributor on floor exercise and rings for the Sooners.

Winners of three straight, No. 8 Minnesota also took a week off following a March 1 home victory against No. 11 Nebraska and No. 12 Temple. The Golden Gophers are led by fourth-year head coach Mike Burns who led the 2007 squad to a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Championships.

Oklahoma and Minnesota have not met in the regular season since 2005 when the Sooners claimed a 220.175-216.625 win in Minneapolis, Minn. The two programs last matched up at the 2007 NCAA Championships where OU posted a 220.200 to the Gophers' 217.150.

Men's Gymnastics Notes

What's next
After hosting No. 8 Minnesota on March 15, Oklahoma wraps up its regular season on the road with a visit to second-ranked Penn State on March 22. The Sooners will have two weeks off prior to the MPSF Championships in Lincoln, Neb., on April 5.
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Horton a Nissen-Emery finalist
Jonathan Horton was named one of seven finalists for the 2008 Nissen-Emery Award, given annually to the nation's most outstanding senior NCAA men's gymnast.

Oklahoma and Penn State lead the nation with five Nissen-Emery winners apiece. The last Sooner to claim the prize was Daniel Furney in 2003.
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Anything you can do, I can do better
Apparently strong competition brings out the best in Jonathan Horton, as the senior played a bit of "one-upmanship" at the Pacific Coast Classic. During OU's first rotation on the pommel horse, sophomore Corey English shattered Jason Laughton's team season high with a 14.600, the highest score on the apparatus for a Sooner gymnast by 0.350 points. The record didn't last long, however, as three turns later Horton set a new standard with a 14.750.

The team record holder on rings (14.750) going into the PCC, Horton saw classmate Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons stake claim to the top spot with an impressive 15.900. Not one to give up his record easily, Horton came right back with a 15.950 on the next turn to reclaim the Sooner rings mark.
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Higher stakes = higher scores
The field at the 2008 Pacific Coast Classic was the strongest competition OU has faced this season, with all five opponents ranked in the GymInfo top 11 at the time. Against the best teams, the Sooners recorded some of their best scores. OU set season highs for team total (359.800), pommel horse (56.850), rings (62.000) and vault (62.000) en route to a second-place finish.
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Stats masters
When your team is ranked third in the nation, it's fair to say that you have a team full of solid individual performers. The GymInfo individual event rankings seem to back up that statement.

In the latest rankings released on March 10, Oklahoma gymnasts accounted for 17 top-20 event rankings. The Sooners lead all teams with five top-20 gymnasts on vault, while OU's three top-20 high bar and rings competitors are second-most in the nation.
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West coast wonder
Competing in the all-around for the first time in 2008, Jonathan Horton was a one-man record-breaking machine at the Pacific Coast Classic. Horton set personal bests on every event besides p-bars and high bar and recorded program marks in the all-around (91.150), on pommel horse (14.750) and on rings (15.950).
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Sooners hogging conference honors
The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation has awarded Gymnast of the Week honors nine times in 2008, and four times the award has gone to a University of Oklahoma gymnast.

Steven Legendre was the conference's first honoree of the season after winning the all-around and floor exercise titles at the Rocky Mountain Open on Jan. 12. The freshman from Port Jefferson, N.Y., earned the distinction again on Jan. 28 after claiming his third consecutive all-around and floor exercise crowns in the Sooners' Jan. 26 upset of then-No. 2 Michigan in Norman.

Jonathan Horton, a two-time MPSF Gymnast of the Year and three-time weekly award winner in 2007, earned two conference honors in three weeks after his performance at the Winter Cup (Feb. 7-9) and his all-around title at the Pacific Coast Classic (Feb. 23).

Last season, four different OU gymnasts accounted for a total of six MPSF weekly honors.

2008 MPSF Gymnasts of the Week
Jan. 15 - Steven Legendre, Oklahoma
Jan. 12 - Kyson Bunthuwong, California
Jan. 28 - Steven Legendre, Oklahoma
Feb. 4 - Greg Stine, Air Force
Feb. 11 - Jonathan Horton, Oklahoma
Feb. 18 - Kyle Bunthuwong, California
Feb. 25 - Jonathan Horton, Oklahoma
March 3 - Ryan Lieberman, Stanford
March 10 - Tim McNeill, California

Impact Performers

Jonathan Horton and Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons
Saturday marks the final home meet for two of Oklahoma's most decorated gymnasts. In their four years in Norman, Jonathan Horton and Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons have combined for 24 All-America honors and six individual national titles.

The duo was also been a part of back-to-back national championship teams in 2005 and 2006 and has accounted for the past two NCAA all-around titles. No other school in NCAA men's gymnastics history has boasted two all-around champions on its roster at the same time.

All-around good guy
Sophomore Ian Jackson claimed the all-around title in OU's Feb. 1 win over Nebraska in his first appearance of the season on all six events this season. Jackson posted an 85.400 to best teammate Kyle McNamara (84.900) and Nebraska's Stephen Tetrault. Jackson also took home the title the last time he competed in the all-around, Feb. 16, 2007 against club teams from the universities of Washington and Texas.
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Leading by example
The coaching success of Oklahoma's staff is well-documented. Head coach Mark Williams is a four-time national Coach of the Year and seven-time MPSF Coach of the Year, while assistants Rustam Sharipov and Daniel Furney were national Co-Assistant Coaches of the Year in 2006. Oklahoma's coaches, however, boast their fair share of competitive successes as well.

During his collegiate career at Nebraska, Williams earned All-America honors on high bar in 1978 after winning the Big Eight title on the apparatus. Williams was also a member of two Husker national title teams in 1979 and 1980.

Sharipov, a former parallel bars specialist, took the gold medal on the event at the 1996 Olympics and also won top honors on the apparatus at both the 1996 World and European Championships. Sharipov garnered another Olympic gold medal as a member of the Unified Team in 1992.

Furney, a 2004 OU graduate, was a member of two national championship teams in Norman (2002 and 2003). Furney also won the Nissen Emery Award in 2003 after claiming NCAA titles in the all-around and on parallel bars. During his OU career, Furney accumulated nine All-America honors, including four during the 2003 season.
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Hall of Fame nominates Horton for Gymnast of the Year
Oklahoma's Jonathan Horton is one of seven nominees for the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame 2007 Gymnast of the Year Award. The OU senior won a his second consecutive Tyson American Cup and finished fourth in the all-around at the World Championships last year.

The other nominees are: Fabian Hambüchen (Germany), Jade Barbosa (Brazil), Cheng Fei (China), Hisashi Mizutori (Japan), Shawn Johnson (USA), Mitja Petkovsek (Slovenia), Nastia Liukin (USA), Yang Wei (China) and Steliana Nistor (Romania).
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A Note on the Rankings
The GymInfo rankings are based on the following criteria:

Jan. 21 - February 11: Ranking by Total Season Average (average of all scores)

February 18 - March 17: Ranking by Three Score Average

March 24 - 31: Ranking by Modified Three Score Average (Select the four highest scores, counting no more than two home meet, and drop the highest score. Average the three remaining scores.)

April 7: Ranking by National Qualifying Average
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Winter Cup highlights
Five OU gymnasts competed in the 2008 Winter Cup Challenge in Las Vegas, and all five advanced to the finals competition. Highlighting the Sooners' weekend in the desert were third-place performances by Jonathan Horton on rings and Steven Legendre on floor exercise. Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons tied for fifth on rings, while Ian Jackson made it to the event finals on rings and pommel horse in his Winter Cup debut.

Perhaps the most balanced performance, however, came from Jacob Messina, another Winter Cup newcomer. The Matthews, N.C., native was the only Sooner to finish in the top 20 on every event in which he competed (PH, SR, HB).
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Men land 10 on Big 12 honor roll
Ten members of the men's gymnastics team earned spots on the Big 12 Commissioners's Honor Roll for the Fall 2007 term. Junior health and exercise science major Russell Czeschin was one of 37 OU student-athletes to earn a perfect 4.0 grade point average. The other Sooner honorees were Chris Brooks, Brian Carr, Corey English, C.J. Grimes, Jason Laughton, Steven Legendre, Reed Pitts, Bobby Shortle and Joseph Weaver.
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The upset is an upset
OU's upset of then-No. 2 Michigan on Jan. 26 was an upset in itself. The Sooners, ranked fifth when they knocked off the Wolverines, rarely have the opportunity to beat an opponent ranked higher than they are.

In fact, prior to this year's win against Michigan, the last time OU scored an upset was at the 2007 Pacific Coast Classic. The Sooners, ranked third at the time, won the event defeating five of the nation's top five teams including ... No. 1 Michigan.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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