Brooks Finalist at Nissen Emery

April 15, 2009

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- Oklahoma gymnast Chris Brooks was among the nine finalists for the 2009 Nissen-Emery Award honored at an awards dinner Wednesday night on the eve of the 2009 NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships on the campus of University of Minnesota.

Casey Sandy of Penn State received the award, while the other Nissen-Emery Award finalists included Jake Bateman (Ohio State), Kit Beikmann (Minnesota), Kyson Bunthuwong (California), Philip Goldberg (Michigan), T.J. Schmidt (Nebraska), Jacob Schonig (Air Force), and Sho Nakamori (Stanford).

“It's always a great honor to have Oklahoma athletes up for the Nissen Emery Award and is great for Chris to be among the candidates,” said head coach Mark Williams. “Casey Sandy is an outstanding gymnast and after he was the 2008 all-around champion, he is certainly deserving of that award.”

Schedule & Results | Chris Brooks Bio | 2009 Media Guide

The Nissen-Emery Award is given annually to the nation's most outstanding senior collegiate gymnast and is considered the Heisman Trophy of the sport. OU's six/seven honorees lead the nation, with Horton's 2008 award breaking a tie between Oklahoma and Penn State for the top spot. Previous Nissen winners from OU include Daniel Furney (2003), Todd Bishop (1999), Dan Fink (1998), Jarrod Hanks (1991) and Bart Conner (1981).

The Houston, Texas, native was voted a team co-captain this season and earned a spot on the U. S. Senior National Team earlier this year. Brooks has been a part of two National Championship teams at Oklahoma while collecting four All-America honors. He is a three-time All-American on high bar (2006, 2007, and 2008) and was named an All-American on parallel bars in 2008.

“We wish everyone the best in the competition and we look forward to having the chance to advance to the team final,” added Williams.

The 2009 NCAA Championships will begin on Thursday, April 16 with two qualifying sessions at 1 and 7 p.m. (CDT). The Sooners will compete in session two with No. 3 Illinois, No. 6 Ohio State, No. 7 Minnesota, No. 10 Illinois-Chicago, and No. 11 Iowa.

The top three teams from each session will earn berths in Friday night's team and all-around Finals, scheduled for a 7 p.m. start. Individual national champions will be determined at the event finals on Saturday night at 7 p.m.

Oklahoma has won five national championships under the leadership of head coach Mark Williams and has claimed eight overall in the program's history.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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