Sooners Honored at White House

June 24, 2008

WASHINGTON, D.C. --Oklahoma's 2008 National Champion Men's Gymnastics team was honored Tuesday afternoon on the South Lawn of the White House as President Bush welcomed 20 teams from 15 campuses and 13 states for NCAA Champions Day.

The team was invited to the White House after garnering the program's eighth NCAA title and fifth in the last seven years under head coach Mark Williams. Oklahoma gymnasts earned 11 All-America honors in 2008, the second-highest total in the nation.

"It's an honor for our team to be at the White House," said Coach Mark Williams. "It's great to be recognized and to meet the President of the United States. It is a special feeling."

The Commander in Chief had some fun with the team as he met with the coaches and players and took a group photo.

White House Transcript, Photos, and Video

President Bush, a former Governor of Texas, said jokingly, "I would like to shake the hands of all the gymnasts from Texas first," when he met the team on Tuesday afternoon.

Coach Mark Williams and the team exchanged gifts with President Bush before taking a photograph.

"We gave President Bush a plaque with a pommel on it," added Williams. "I asked him to do some circles and he said, 'Are you kidding? I can't even do one pull-up'."

Houston, Texas native, Jonathan Horton, who was named to the U.S. Olympic Team last week, had an opportunity to speak with the President as well.

"He congratulated me on making the Olympic team and told me he would see me in Beijing, China," Horton said. "It was an honor to be recognized by the President today as the 2008 National Champions. The President said he read about me in the newspaper making the Olympic team. That's pretty cool!"

Horton will compete in Beijing, China later this summer at the Olympics August 8-24 and will depart on July 29 with Coach Williams.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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