Sooners Escape Penn State with Win

March 22, 2008

NORMAN, Okla. - It was close again, but this time the Oklahoma men's gymnastics team left Rec Hall victorious. In a rematch of the top two teams at last year's NCAA Championships hosted by Penn State, the second-ranked Sooners held on for a 357.850-356.650 victory over the third-ranked Nittany Lions.

Penn State defeated Oklahoma 221.000-220.200 to deny the Sooners a third-straight national title in the teams' last matchup.

The OU lineup required some major adjustment after senior co-captain Jonathan Horton was injured during warm-ups on the high bar. The reigning Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Gymnast of the Week was still able to compete on two events, winning his fourth title of the season on rings (15.550) and scoring a 12.550 on pommel horse.

"The guys never gave up," said OU head coach Mark Williams. "They hung in there as a team and we made a few adjustments. I thought the guys stepped up pretty well with our best guy out. All in all we're happy to get away with a win."

As a team, Oklahoma claimed event wins on floor exercise (61.850), rings (60.350), vault (62.550) and parallel bars (60.650). The Sooners' 357.850 team score was their third-highest of the season and the team's second-best road score (359.800 at the Pacific Coast Classic).

Final Scores

Freshman Steven Legendre won his team-leading sixth floor crown of the year, tying his career and program best with a 15.800. The Port Jefferson, N.Y., native also tied for first on vault with Penn State All-American Casey Sandy (16.050).

Junior Chris Brooks picked up his first win of the year on parallel bars with a career-high 15.350, as OU swept the top four places on the event. Junior Jacob Messina and senior Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons tied for second with matching scores of 14.950, while junior Kyle McNamara was fourth with a 14.800.

In addition to his runner-up finish on p-bars, Abdullah-Simmons, who won the NCAA all-around title in his last visit to Rec Hall, chipped in with a second-place showing on rings (15.500) and tied for third on the high bar (14.600).

Also providing veteran leadership for OU in Horton's absence was Messina. The Matthews, N.C., native set career-bests on high bar (14.600) and p-bars to finish in a tie for third and second, respectively. He also recorded Oklahoma's highest score on the pommel horse, matching teammate Corey English's 14.200 and tying his own season high on the apparatus.

Oklahoma will take two weeks off to recuperate before beginning postseason competition at the 2008 MPSF Championships, April 5 in Lincoln, Neb. The Sooners are the three-time defending conference champions and have won eight MPSF titles in the last nine years, including seven under Williams.

Next Event

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics