Sooners Top No. 10 Huskers

Jan. 18, 2009

NORMAN, Okla. -- The second-ranked Oklahoma men's gymnastics team claimed its second straight victory by winning all six events over No. 10 Nebraska Sunday at the Bob Devaney Center in Lincoln, Neb. The Sooners scored a 354.300 to beat the Huskers (337.600) in the second meeting of the season and did so in impressive fashion on Sunday despite a depleted roster.

The Sooners were already without the services of Ian Jackson and Reed Pitts heading into this weekend and lost Troy Nitzky in warmups prior to Sunday's meet with an ankle injury. The freshman's status is undetermined for OU's next competition against Texas.

"I was very pleased with how the guys were able to score points for the team," said head coach Mark Williams. "With all of the recent injuries, I felt like we were running on fumes today.

"We could not afford a mistake on two events because we had to put four guys up and count all four scores. I can't remember ever having to do that as a coach, not even once, and the guys did a great job today on rings and vault."

Senior co-captain Chris Brooks (89.200) and sophomore Steven Legendre (87.850) led OU for the second consecutive week and finished one-two in the all-around competition, respectively.

"We did a great job with maintaining our high hit percentage and I am happy to feel that the guys are doing well away from home," added Williams. "We have a small roster right now and everyone needs to step up and Steven (Legendre) and Chris (Brooks) helped lead the way again for us."

Oklahoma recorded a couple of season highs against the Huskers with sophomore Bobby Shortle scoring 14.900 on floor, while Legendre scored a 16.300 on the vault to match a 2009 high.

Final Results

Legendre claimed two event titles (vault and still rings) against conference rival Nebraska on Sunday and upped his season total to seven.

As a team, OU improved on its scores from last week marking season high scores in vault (63.600), high bar (58.450) and parallel bars (59.300).

The Sooners head back to Norman for their home opener, Jan. 31, against Texas. The meet will be at 7 p.m. at the Howard McCasland Field House.

The competition will mark 2008 National Championship Celebration Day were fans will have the opportunity to meet the gymnasts while they sign autographs and see the 2008 National Championship trophy after the meet.

Oklahoma Event Scores
Floor Exercise (58.600)
Pommel Horse (55.750)
Still Rings (58.600)
Vault (63.600)
Parallel Bars (59.300)
High Bar (58.450)

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