Sooners Advance to Championship

April 16, 2009

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Second-ranked Oklahoma men's gymnastics team took care of business in Thursday's NCAA Championships Qualifier on the campus of the University of Minnesota. The Sooners won the second qualifying session with a team score of 360.950 to advance to Friday night's team finals. Also advancing from session two were Illinois (359.200) and Ohio State (354.300).

The Sooners have advanced to the team finals in every season under head coach Mark Williams.

OU posted the top score on vault (64.250), high bar (59.500), parallel bars (57.800), and floor (62.050). Sophomore Steven Legendre finished first on vault and floor, while Senior Kyle McNamara finished first on parallel bars.

“We just have to get on a roll tomorrow, wherever we start and hit as a team,” said head coach Mark Williams. “We are a capable team to run with any of the other teams here. Tomorrow is just about who has the better night.”

The Sooners started the night on vault posting a score of 64.250 to win the event. Senior Russell Czeschin started the qualifying round strong tying a career high 16.100 on the apparatus, while Legendre posted a 16.350 to win the event title.

Oklahoma then moved to parallel bars scoring a 57.800 to win the event. McNamara tied for first place on the event with a season high with a score of 14.900.

“Tonight we had some good and bad performances,” said senior Jacob Messina. “I think we know what we need to do for tomorrow.”

Session II Event Results

On rings Oklahoma received a pair of career highs from senior Jacob Messina and McNamara with scores of 15.100 and 14.650, respectively. The Sooners scored a 59.500 to win the event for the night.
OU then moved the floor were they extended its lead posting a 62.050 to win the event on the night.

After a bye rotation, the Sooners went to pommel horse were McNamara shattered his career high with a 14.350 and sophomore Anthony Naddour tied his career high of 14.350. OU posted a 57.70 to tie for second on pommel horse and finished the night second on rings with a score of 59.650.

The top three teams from both of Thursday's qualifying sessions will meet Friday night to decide the 2008 NCAA title. Stanford, Oklahoma, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio State, California all advanced to the event finals.

Friday night's competition is slated for a 7 p.m. start inside the Sports Pavilion. Live scoring of the event can be accessed as part of the NCAA Championship Central page on www.gophersports.com. ESPN2 will air the competition on a tape delay on April 23 at 2 p.m.

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