OU Welcomes Minnesota, Texas Saturday

Feb. 25, 2010

No. 2 Oklahoma Vs. No. 6 Nebraska \| Texas Club Team
Date	Saturday, Feb. 27 \| 7 p.m. (CT)
Location	Norman, Okla \| McCasland Field House
Tickets	Order Online \| (405) 325-2424 or (800) 456-GoOU
Live Stats	SoonerSports.com
Online	Oklahoma All-Access
Meet Notes	Sooners

NORMAN, Okla. -- The second-ranked Oklahoma men's gymnastics team returns to McCasland Field House Saturday, Feb. 27, for a match up with sixth-ranked University of Minnesota and Texas club team at 7 p.m.

The Sooners are looking to continue the success of the first half of the season by defeating their fifth top-10 opponent of 2010 in No. 6 Minnesota.

Last season, Oklahoma swept team and individual event titles with both competitors to beat Texas 349.050 to 304.950 on Jan. 30 and Minnesota 357.850 to 347.950 on March 7.

Saturday's matchup marks "Cleveland Elementary Night. " The event is part of a "Partners in Education" program developed by Oklahoma Head Coach Mark Williams and Cleveland Elementary music teacher Regina Bell.

The OU Athletics Marketing Department has some special events planned for "Cleveland Elementary Night". Several lucky students will win the opportunity to serve as junior judges, score flashers, march-in leaders, junior PA announcer and award presenters at the meet. One Cleveland student will also perform the national anthem.

OPPONENT PREVIEW
The University of Minnesota men's gymnastics team dropped a Big Ten Conference meet to Illinois, Feb 13, on the road in Champaign. The Gophers are coming into the competition from a bye week and up next for Minnesota is a match with No. 5 Penn State and No. 11 Temple on March 6.

UP NEXT
Oklahoma returns to action against conference foes No. 4 Stanford and No. 9 Nebraska on March 7. The meet will get underway at 2 p.m. (CT) at the Devaney Center in Lincoln, Neb.

EVENTS AROUND THE COUNTRY
Saturday, Feb 27:
Stanford vs. Michigan
Ohio State vs. Penn State
Air Force vs. Arizona State

Oklahoma Roster | 2010 Schedule and Results | Complete 2010 Preview with Event Breakdowns

A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK
No. 2 Oklahoma men's gymnastics team defeated its fourth top-10 opponent at No. 3 Michigan, Feb. 20. OU (7-0 overall, 3-0 MPSF) posted its second highest team total of the season (354.450) en route to its victory over the Wolverines (354.000).

OKLAHOMA @ MICHIGAN INDIVIDUAL TITLES
Floor Exercise: Steven Legendre, Oklahoma
Vault: Bobby Shortle, Oklahoma
Parallel Bars: Alex Naddour, Oklahoma
All-Around: Jacob Dalton, Oklahoma

HARD PLACE TO WIN
The last time the Sooners were able to win in Ann Arbor was the 2003 season with a 214.275-208.650 victory over then-ranked No. 6 Michigan. The win snapped a three meet losing skid at Michigan.

AGAINST THE TOP 10
OU has started the 2010 season 7-0, including a 3-0 mark against conference opponents. Four of OU's five opponents have been ranked in the top 10. Last season, the Sooners went undefeated against their top 10 opponents in the regular season.

STRONG FIRST HALF
Oklahoma has had a strong first half to the 2010 campaign claiming 21 of the first 24 team event titles of the season. The Sooners have also won 24 of the 28 individual titles in the first three meets.

Three of the four all-around titles of the season were claimed by freshman Jacob Dalton with scores of 87.500, 89.600 and 87.650. Red shirt junior Ian Jackson claimed the third all-around title of the season with a score of 84.250 against No. 9 Nebraska.

NOTICING NATIONALLY
Oklahoma gymnast are being honored nationally for their efforts as freshman Jacob Dalton was named the College Gymnastics Association and MPSF Gymnast of the Week (Jan. 17 and 24), while redshirt junior Ian Jackson was named MPSF Gymnastics of the Week (Feb.
18).

NATIONAL GYMNASTS OF THE WEEK
Week Student-Athlete
Jan. 17 Jacob Dalton
Jan. 24 Jacob Dalton

MPSF GYMNASTS OF THE WEEK
Week Student-Athlete
Jan. 17 Jacob Dalton
Jan. 24 Jacob Dalton
Feb. 18 Ian Jackson

FIVE ON NATIONAL TEAM
Four-year letterwinner Chris Brooks won the 2010 Winter Cup all-around title and regained his position on the U.S. Senior National Team on Feb. 6. Overall, one third of the national team selections were from the University of Oklahoma men's program as all five representatives sent to the event were selected following strong performances.

Freshman Alex Naddour was the latest Sooner to be named to the team, while freshman Jacob Dalton and junior Steven Legendre and Olympian Jonathan Horton retained their positions on the team. The five Sooners, along with the other 10 members will comprise the U.S. team until the Visa Championships in August.

No other NCAA Division I men's gymnastics program has more members on Senior National Team than Oklahoma and this is most National Team members that the Sooners have ever had, beating the previous total in 1994 (4).

GYMNASTS TO WATCH

Bobby Shortle | Jr. | FX, V, HB -- Shortle claimed his second straight event title by posting a score of 16.100 on vault. Last week the Brunswick, Ohio, native broke his career high with a 16.200 on the apparatus.

Jake Dalton | Fr. | All-Around -- Against Michigan, Dalton claimed the all-around title with a score 87.650. The U. S. Senior National Team member has claimed three of the four all-around titles in 2010.

TOP OF THE CLASS
The Sooners are currently ranked in the top three on every event and the top ranked program on floor (60.633) and vault (63.650). No other gymnastics program is currently ranked in the top three on every event.

The only other program to be No. 1 on two separate events is Michigan (Pommel Horse, High Bar), currently the nation's No. 1 team.The only other team to be ranked in top-three on multiple events is Stanford (3).

OU also has the top-ranked gymnast on floor (Legendre, 15.967) and vault (Dalton, 16.117). Illinois is the only other team to have a top-ranked gymnast on two separate events (Ribiero, 15.517; Ruggeri, 15.717).

OU currently has five gymnasts ranked in the top 15 on separate events.

ONE TOUGH CONFERENCE
The MPSF Conference has consistently been the top-ranked conference in the NCAA the past 10 years. This season seems to be no different with three teams holding the top ranking in four of the six events (OKLAHOMA-2, Stanford and California).

MOVING ON UP
The OU men's gymnastics team ascended to the No. 2 ranking after topping No. 9 Nebraska on Feb. 13. The win was the Sooners' third over a top 10 opponent this season.

This week's ranking marks the second consecutive week this season that OU has held the second spot. The Sooners began the year ranked No. 4 in the preseason and the number thee spot last week.

Oklahoma has held the top ranking eight out of the 10 years under the direction of head coach Mark Williams.

HOLDING THEIR OWN
This week's ranking marks the second week in a row that OU has held the second spot. The Sooners began the year ranked No. 4 in the preseason and held the number thee spot last week.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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