No. 2 Sooners Travel to Minnesota

March 5, 2009

No. 2 Men's Gymnastics vs. No. 1 Stanford, No. 7 Minnesota
Date	Saturday, March 7 at 7 p.m. (CT)
Location	Minneapolis, Minn. \| Minnesota Sports Pavilion
Notes	2009 Men's Gymnastics Notes
Tickets	Minnesota Athletics Ticket Office
Online	Live Stats

NORMAN, Okla. -- The No. 2 Oklahoma men's gymnastics team travels to Minneapolis, Minn. to battle conference rival No. 1 Stanford and host team No. 7 Minnesota, Saturday, March 7. The event will start at 7:00 p.m. in the Sports Pavilion at the University of Minnesota.

Oklahoma enters the meet after claiming its fourth victory over a top-ten opponent, a 358.300-342.400 victory over No. 9 Nebraska. OU's team total was the second highest this season in the NCAA.

This will be the first of two season trips for the Sooners to the site of the 2009 NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championship, which will be held in Minneapolis on April 16-18.

The last time Oklahoma faced Stanford was in the 2008 NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championship. The Sooners overcame a deficit in the final rotation and won the program's eighth national championship on the Stanford campus.

“It's going to be a good test for us because we have to beat Stanford a couple times after this,” added Williams. “It will be a good road test for us and a good opportunity to see how we do. Everyone is going to have to do a good job for us to hang-tight with them.”

The trip will also mark the beginning of one of three matchups with Big Ten foes in the 2009 season. OU will host two of its top rivals later this month with No. 6 Ohio State (March 14) and No. 8 Penn State (March 21) at the McCasland Field House.

Schedule & Results | Roster | 2009 Season Preveiw

The Sooners enter the meet having dominated vault this season, leading the nation in scoring on the apparatus with an average score of 64.033. Against Nebraska, OU recorded a program record team tally of 64.500 on vault and sophomore Steven Legendre led the way with a school record 16.500.

Both Stanford at Minnesota enter Saturday's contest with victories last weekend. Stanford recorded the nation's top score of 358.800 in a win against the Japanese Collegiate All-Stars and Minnesota recorded a score of 348.450 to defeat Illinois-Chicago.

Coming up next...
After visiting Minnesota on March 7, Oklahoma returns home for its next two meets against two of its top rivals with Ohio State (March 14) and Penn State (March 21) at the McCasland Field House.

Since 2000, the Sooners, Nittany Lions and Buckeyes have combined to win the last nine NCAA titles. OU leads the pack with five national championships while Penn State has claimed three (2000, 2004, 2007) and Ohio State won the 2001 championship.

Legendre Earns MPSF Honor for Second Time...
Oklahoma sophomore Steven Legendre was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Gymnast of the Week. The honor was the second of the season for Legendre and the fourth of his career.

Legendre led OU with a school-record 16.500 on vault, which guided the Sooners to a program record team tally of 64.500 on the apparatus.

Legendre won the all-around competition with a score of 90.750, winning four events Saturday evening en route to the crown. His all-around tally was the highest in the NCAA this season.

Sooners Make it Three Against Huskers...
The No. 2 Oklahoma men's gymnastics team kept its undefeated streak alive in dominating fashion and defeated its fourth top-10 opponent on the year with a win over No. 9 Nebraska at the Howard McCasland Field House on Feb. 27.

The Sooners claimed their third victory over the Huskers in 2009, posting a 358.300-342.400 win. OU's team total was the second highest this season in the NCAA.

Another Top-Ten Goes Down…
Last weekend marked the third top-10 victory for the Oklahoma Men's Gymnastics team this year after Sooners defeated then-No. 10 Iowa. Oklahoma men's gymnastics team claimed all six event titles en route to its fourth straight victory with a victory over the Hawkeyes.

Oklahoma will go for its fourth victory of the season over a top ten foe when it battles No.9 Nebraska Feb. 28.

Cleveland Night a Success…
The Sooners scored a 354.250 to beat the Hawkeyes (336.000) in front of 779 fans, many of them being students and parents from Cleveland Elementary in Norman, Okla.

“It was nice to see the students and parents from Cleveland Elementary come and support us tonight,” said OU head coach Mark Williams. “They really add energy to our team and the way we compete.”

The annual Cleveland Elementary event is part of a "Partners in Education" program developed by Oklahoma Head Coach Mark Williams and Cleveland Elementary music teacher Regina Bell. OU gymnasts make weekly visits to the school to assist teachers with class activities and to help tutor students in math, grammar and reading.

Trio of National Team Members...
The University of Oklahoma men's gymnastics program posted another impressive feat at the Winter Cup Challenge in Las Vegas, Nev. on Feb. 7. Following strong performances by senior co-captain Chris Brooks and sophomore Steven Legendre, the Sooners now have three members on the U. S. Senior National Team. The two current Sooners are joined by Olympian Jonathan Horton.

No other NCAA Division I men's gymnastics program has more members on Senior National Team than Oklahoma and it marks most National Team members that the Sooners have had since 1994 (4).

Brooks finished fifth in the weekend competition and recorded a two-day total of 173.500. Posting an all-around score of 87.100 for the final night, the Houston, Texas, native improved on rings (14.300), vault (15.700), and parallel bars (14.800) to help his average.

After posting stronger scores in the final night of competition, Legendre finished seventh in the weekend competition and recorded a two-day total of 172.050. The Port Jefferson, N. Y., native improved his routine scores on floor (15.550), rings (14.750), and parallel bars (14.400) to finish the night with an all-around score of 87.650.

Sooners Promote Cleveland Night...
The Oklahoma men's gymnastics team took a break from workouts Friday morning to participate in an exhibition for students at Norman's Cleveland Elementary School. The OU coaches and gymnasts made their annual visit prior to "Cleveland Elementary Night."

As a special treat for Cleveland's students, the team performed a gymnastics demonstration at a school assembly. The Sooners showed off some of their skills on floor exercise and parallel bars for a packed audience in the Cleveland Elementary gymnasium.

Legendre Impresses...
Oklahoma sophomore Steven Legendre was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Gymnast of the week on Jan. 21.

The honor was the first of the season for Legendre and the third of his career.

Oklahoma gymnasts claimed all of the individual titles at the Rocky Mountain Open with the help of the Port Jefferson, N.Y., native winning event titles on floor (15.350), vault (15.900), parallel bars (14.950), and high bar (14.700). Legendre also claimed his second Rocky Mountain Open all-around title with an 89.400.

Legendre claimed two event titles (vault and still rings) against conference rival Nebraska on Sunday and upped his season total to seven. The U.S. Senior National team member also finished second in the all-around behind teammate Chris Brooks.

Fresh New Faces...
The Sooners added five freshman for the 2009 season in Chad Crumley, David Finning, Ben Mayer, Troy Nitzky and Pat Piscitelli. This years signing class reaches far across the country. Form Illinois, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas and Oklahoma this group looks to have an impact to the 2009 season for the Sooners.

Horton the Sixth...
The program's most decorated gymnast, Horton was the 2008 Nissen-Emery recipient in one of the strongest fields in the award's history.Considered the Heisman Trophy of gymnastics, the Nissen-Emery Award, founded by trampoline inventor George Nissen, has been handed out to the nation's top senior collegiate gymnast annually since 1966. Since the award's inception, Oklahoma has claimed a nation-leading six Nissen honorees: Bart Conner (1981), Jarrod Hanks (1991), Dan Fink (1998), Todd Bishop (1999), Daniel Furney (2003) and Jonathan Horton (2008).

All-Americans Back For More...
The Sooners roster is filled with five All-Americans from last year's squad. In total, Oklahoma gymnasts earned 11 All-America honors in 2008, the second-highest total in the nation. Seniors Russell Czeschin (FX), Chris Brooks (PB, HB), Jason Laughton (PH), Reed Pitts (FX) and sophomore Steven Legendre (FX, V, HB), received national distinction.

Williams Names Captains...
Seniors Jacob Messina and Chris Brooks were named co-captains for the 2009 season by head coach Mark Williams.
Both have been apart of several of the Sooners national championship squads and have received national honors for their effort. Brooks was a two-time All-American last year on high bar and parallel bars while Messina.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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