Three Sooners on National Team

Aug. 14, 2009

DALLAS, Texas – The OU men's gymnastics team made another statement on the national scene this weekend as junior Steven Legendre and freshman Jake Dalton were named to the U.S. Senior National Team. Joining the duo is former Sooner and Olympic Medalist Jonathon Horton, who took home the title at the 2009 Visa Championships in Dallas, Texas, while Legendre finished seventh in the all-around and Dalton 14th.

Horton and Legendre were also named to the squad that will represent the U.S. at the 2009 World Gymnastics Championships, Oct. 13-19, in London, England. Dalton was also named to the team as an alternate.

“I'm definitely proud of the guys and the way they competed last night,” said OU Head Coach Mark Williams. “Jon did a good job holding on to the lead and finishing the night out.”

USA Gymnastics named the U.S. Men's National Team following the conclusion of the competition at the 2009 Visa Championships in Dallas, Texas. The top 10 in the senior men's all-around automatically qualified for the national team, and five additional gymnasts were named by the Men's Program Committee.

After the conclusion of the competition, Horton was named USA Gymnastics' Athlete of the Year and Williams was named Coach of the Year.

Horton scored a 15.800 on rings, the highest of the evening, while wining the rings title with a two-day event score of 31.600. He also shared the U.S. horizontal bar title with Danell Leyva of Miami/Universal Gymnastics, with both scored a two-day total score of 31.550.

Legendre finished seventh in the competition with a total score of 175.850 and won the U.S. floor title with a two-day total of 31.000.

“Steve did a good job putting himself back on the team with his performance,” added Williams. “This will be Steve's first World Championships and I'm sure that he will represent our country and university well.”

Dalton, an incoming freshman, finished tied for 14th with a total score of 172.150. Dalton posted a score of 32.700 to tally the highest score on vault in the second day.

Chris Brooks, who completed his OU eligibility in the spring, competed on only four events but finished the weekend 35th with an overall total of 115.000. On day one of competition, Brooks finished in a tie for seventh on rings (14.800) and tied for seventh on parallel bars (15.000).

On Aug. 15, NBC (Cox Channel 3, 704 HD in Oklahoma City) will air a taped recap show of the men's finals at 3 p.m. ET and the women's finals at 8 p.m. ET.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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