Sooners Solid in Visa Prelims

May 22, 2008

NORMAN, Okla. - Select members of the Oklahoma men's gymnastics team completed preliminary competition Thursday at the Visa U.S. Championships in Houston, Texas. The USA Gymnastics event serves as a qualifying competition for June's U.S. Olympic Trials in Philadelphia, Pa.

Jonathan Horton was the top OU performer in the first round, finishing fifth in the all-around (89.450) while placing second on rings (15.800) and tying for third on floor (15.500). A fall on high bar likely cost the Houston native a No. 2 all-around ranking going into day two, as Horton stood just 0.3 points behind day one all-around runner-up Joseph Hagerty.

"I sensed some nervousness from some from the guys at the beginning," OU head coach Mark Williams said. "This competition is a big deal. But I thought Jon especially handled things pretty well. He didn't let the mistake on high bar get him down. He's still within striking distance of the top spot and hopefully he'll have good day on Saturday."

Steven Legendre, who won national titles on floor and vault at the 2008 NCAA Championships, also tied for third on floor with a 15.500 while finishing 13th in the all-around standings.

Results |

Commentary | Visa Championships Central

Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons, a co-captain with Horton on the Sooners' national title-winning team, stood in a tie for 18th in the all-around after day one. Thursday marked the Philadelphia, Pa., native's first competition on all six events since winning the NCAA all-around title in 2007.

"I was pretty happy with the way Taqiy competed," Williams said, "especially for not having competed in the all-around for a year. He really had a pretty decent day."

The other current OU gymnast in the competition, Houston native Chris Brooks, competed on only four events but finished in a tie for eighth on vault (15.900) and 10th on floor (14.950).

Former Sooners David and Jamie Henderson also competed on just four events and stood 26th and 32nd, respectively in the all-around after the preliminary round.

Reigning Olympic all-around gold-medalist Paul Hamm leads the all-around standings with a 93.450, more than 3.5 points clear of Hagerty's second place total of 89.750.

Saturday night's all-around and event finals will begin at 6 p.m. (CT) inside Reliant Arena. The members of the U.S. Senior National Team will be announced following the meet, as will the qualifiers for the Olympic Trials.

The official Web site of USA Gymnastics, usa-gymnastics.org, will carry live scoring and quick hit commentary of Saturday night's finals competition as well as news updates and photo galleries throughout the week.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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