No. 1 OU Hosts No. 8 Michigan at the LNC

March 9, 2012

No. 1 Men's Gymnastics vs. No. 8 Michigan
Date and Time	Saturday, March 10 at 7 p.m. (CT)
Location	Norman, Okla. \| Lloyd Noble Center
TV Broadcast	March 15 at 7 p.m.; March 17 at 12 p.m. (Cox Channel 3; 703 HD)
Webcast	All-Access
Online	Live Scoring
Additional Info	Media Guide \| Meet Notes \| Blog \| Twitter \| Facebook

NORMAN, Okla.- The top-ranked Oklahoma men's gymnastics team is switching up venues when it hosts No. 8 Michigan at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 10 at the Lloyd Noble Center for Cheer Like a Champion Night.

The Sooners (10-1, 4-0 MPSF) are hosting the meet at the Lloyd Noble Center to preview the venue for the 2012 NCAA Championships, held at the LNC on April 19-21.

Oklahoma is coming off of a season-high score of 357.050, the highest score of any NCAA team this season, in their win over defending national champion Stanford last Saturday. With the win, the Sooners solidified themselves as the No. 1 team in the GymInfo Rankings for the seventh-straight week.

OU defeated the Wolverines earlier this season at a tri-meet with Illinois on Jan. 28. The Sooners fell to Fighting Illini in their only loss of the season, but edged Michigan, 347.700-339.

Single-meet tickets ($8 Adult and $5 Youth) for all regular-season home meets are for general admission.

Tickets can be purchased online at SoonerSports.com or by calling the OU Athletics Ticket Office at (800) 456-GoOU. For more information on OU men's gymnastics, visit www.SoonerSports.com.

ON THE WEB
• Live scoring for the meet will be available on SoonerSports.com. A live webcast of the meet will also be available through OU All-Access.
• OU men's gymnastics' Twitter feed (@SoonerGymnasts) will provide up-to-date information throughout the meet.

GYMNAST TO WATCH - JAKE DALTON
Dalton was named the NCAA Gymnast of the Week by the College Gymnastics Association for the second time this season after winning the all-around title against Stanford. Dalton also claimed MPSF Gymnast of the Week for the second week in a row.

SCOUTING MICHIGAN
• The eighth-ranked Wolverines boast a pair of current U.S. National Team members in sophomore Sam Mikulak and freshman Adrian de los Angeles. Mikulak is ranked in the top 10 nationally on parallel bars (2), vault (6), high bar (8) and all-around (6) and is the top-ranked Wolverine in every event except for pommel horse.
• Michigan will face the nation's No. 1-ranked team for the third time this season, the most in program history. In addition to falling to Oklahoma in the Jan. 28 tri-meet, the Wolverines also faced then-No. 1 Penn State on Jan. 21 in Ann Arbor. Michigan bested the Nittany Lions, 340.300-338.450
• The Big 10 squad's best event has been floor, on which it's ranked No. 3 in the nation with an average score of 59.583. The Wolverines have three gymnasts in the top 20 of the floor rankings.

STILL ON TOP
For the seventh-straight week, Oklahoma is on top of the GymInfo Rankings. Below is a complete list of this week's rankings along with each school's three-score average.

1. Oklahoma (355.483)
2. Penn State (352.667)
3. Illinois (352.400)
4. Stanford (350.283)
5. Ohio State (346.483)
6. Minnesota (346.133)
7. California (345.233)
8. Michigan (342.567)
9. Temple (340.300)
10. Nebraska (339.233)
11. Air Force (337.967)
12. Iowa (335.700)
13. Army (330.767)
14. UIC (329.767)
15. Navy (327.550)

LAST TIME OUT
In a battle between two of the most dominant programs in collegiate gymnastics, the top-ranked Oklahoma men's gymnastics team took down defending national champion Stanford on Saturday night at the McCasland Field House.

Oklahoma's team total of 357.050 was the highest of any NCAA program this season and it easily topped the Cardinal's 351.400. The Sooners won event titles in five events and captain Jake Dalton claimed four individual event titles (floor, vault, parallel bars and high bar) in addition to winning the all-around title with a season-high 90.500.

GEARING UP FOR NATIONALS
The Sooners are switching up venues for its dual against Michigan in preparation for hosting the 2012 NCAA Championships next month.

OU's Lloyd Noble Center will host the NCAA Championship for the third time in the past 10 years, April 19-21. The Sooners are undefeated in past national championships held in Norman, claiming first place in 2002 and 2006.

Oklahoma will return to its regular home facility of the McCasland Field House on March 17 in a tri-meet against Nebraska and Air Force.

TELEVISION DEBUT
Saturday's is scheduled to be televised from Lloyd Noble Center and shown on a tape-delayed basis on Thursday, March 15 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, March 17 at 12 p.m. on Cox Channel 3 (703 HD) in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

Sooner Sports Properties and SoonerVision HD will put on the production for the first time in program history with former OU gymnast and American Olympian Bart Conner providing the play-by-play from Norman alongside color analysts Jason Laughton and Hollie Vise.

DECORATED DALTON
The awards keep coming for Oklahoma junior Jake Dalton. For the second time this season, Dalton was named the College Gymnastics Association's NCAA Gymnast of the Week on Thursday.

The weekly honor is voted on by the 17 active college coaches and the 35 CGA Honorary Lifetime Members, plus seven major club programs. Dalton has won the weekly award seven times throughout his career.

The national honor came two days after Dalton was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Gymnast of the Week, a title he's earned three times this season.

Dalton was awarded the honor after Dalton led Oklahoma with four individual event titles (floor, vault, parallel bars and high bar) in addition to winning the all-around title with a season-high 90.500 on Saturday against Stanford. Junior Chris Stehl and freshman Jacoby Rubin have also been named MPSF Gymnast of the Week this season.

DALTON RETAKES ALL-AROUND TOP SPOT
Dalton's season-high all-around total of 90.050 topped then-No. 1 Eddie Penev (87.900) of Stanford in Saturday night's meet to retake the top spot in the Troester individual rankings.

Dalton is also the nation's No. 1 gymnast on floor and parallel bars, No. 2 on high bar on No. 5 on rings and vault.

ALL-AROUND EXCELLENCE
Not only are the Sooners the nation's top all-around team, but OU is also ranked in the country's top two for five events. The Sooners are the top team on floor, parallel bars and rings and No. 2 on pommel horse and high bar. The Troester event rankings also have Oklahoma at No. 4 on vault.

OPPONENTS THIS WEEK, TEAMMATES THE NEXT
Oklahoma junior Jake Dalton and Michigan sophomore Sam Mikulak may be competing against each other in Saturday night's collegiate competition, but they will compete again next week representing the same team - the United States.

Dalton and Mikulak have been selected to represent the U.S. at the 2012 Kellogg's Pacific Rim Championships in Everett, Wash. The international event features more than 200 athletes in artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, and trampoline, March 16-18, at the Comcast Arena and Comcast Community Ice Rink in Everett, Wash.

The duo will be joined on the United States' three-man roster by former Sooner Chris Brooks (2006-2009). Brooks and Dalton were both members of the 2011 World Championship team that secured the United States a spot in the 2012 Olympics last October.

FLOORING IT
Oklahoma has proven to be a force on the floor exercise, ranked No. 1 in the nation in the event and winning the event title in each of its six meets of the 2012 season. Led by 2011 NCAA floor champion Jake Dalton, the Sooners have posted a 59.500 or higher in the event in five of its six meets.

OU's dominance on floor is nothing new to the world of college gymnastics. The Sooners have claimed the event title in 24 straight regular-season meets. The last opponent to out-score
Oklahoma on floor was Minnesota on March 7, 2009.

YOUTH MOVEMENT
With 10 freshmen on OU's 18-man roster, the Sooners are looking for their younger gymnasts to make a quick transition to collegiate competition. The young Sooners are doing just that.

Five freshmen are ranked in the top 20 of at least one event in the GymInfo event rankings. Jacoby Rubin leads the way on high bar (T3), parallel bars (12) and pommel horse (15) alongside Dylan Akers in all-around (9), high bar (10) and pommel horse (T11).

Michael Reid is 10th on pommel horse, Alec Robin is tied for No. 13 on floor and Danny Berrardini is No. 13 on parallel bars.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Although the season started in early January, the Sooners began their season on the road for over a month. Oklahoma is now in a stretch of four-straight home meets over a course of four-straight weekends.

The Sooners haven't lost a regular-season meet at home in 17 meets, dating back to a loss to Ohio State on March 3, 2007.

LEGENDRE AND DALTON CONTINUE OLYMPIC PUSH
Former Oklahoma gymnast Steven Legendre continued to make a name for himself in his pursuit of a spot on the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team by taking second place in the all-around and claiming two event titles at the 2012 Winter Cup in Las Vegas.

Due to his automatic qualification, 2011 Winter Cup Champion Jake Dalton did not compete in his two strongest events, floor exercise and vault, which he won NCAA and USA titles in last season.

PRESEASON NO. 1
Oklahoma has been awarded the No. 1 preseason ranking five previous times under Head Coach Mark Williams. In four of those seasons, OU went on to win the NCAA title (2001, 2002, 2005, 2006).

RETURNING ALL-AMERICANS
Jake Dalton leads the returning Sooners with seven All-American honors in just two seasons of competition. The Reno, Nev., native earned All-America status on floor, vault, parallel bars and high bar in 2011 and all-around, floor and vault in 2010.

In addition to Dalton's seven All-America honors, the Sooner lineup also returns junior Troy Nitzky, who earned All-American status on rings after posting a 15.200 at the 2011 NCAA Championships.

NEXT UP
• Oklahoma will return to its regular home facility of the McCasland Field House on March 17 in a tri-meet against Nebraska and Air Force for “Luck of the Sooners Night.”
• The meet will be sponsored by the OU IT Store, who is covering the cost of the first 100 fans in attendance. Giveaways include multiple green iPod Shuffles and one lucky fans will win an Xbox.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

No. 1 OU Hosts No. 8 Michigan at the LNC

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