OU Reclaims No. 1 Ranking, Hosts NCAA's

NORMAN, Okla. -- The Oklahoma men's gymnastics team reclaimed the No. 1 spot in the GymInfo Rankings on Tuesday as it prepares to host the 2012 NCAA Championships at the Lloyd Noble Center, April 19-21.

The Sooners, who have been the second-ranked team for the past two weeks, posted a 355.600 en route to a first-place finish at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championships to take the No. 1 ranking for the 10th time in the past 12 weeks.

"We're pretty excited to be hosting another national championship," said OU Head Coach Mark Williams. "Having the No. 1 ranking going in is even more of an honor and certainly a testament the guys on this team who started this season as a fairly young group and worked very hard to achieve that. I'm looking forward to a great event and what will certainly be a terrific finals next Friday with great competition."

Oklahoma claimed its eighth conference title in the past 10 years on Saturday behind junior Jake Dalton, who claimed his second-straight conference all-around title along with three other event titles.

Following the meet, Dalton was named the MPSF Gymnast of the Year along with Williams being recognized as the MPSF Coach of the Year for the ninth time in the past 13 years.

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With the No. 1 ranking, Oklahoma will compete in the second session of the NCAA Qualifier on April 19 in Norman. The Sooners will be joined in the 7 p.m. session by No. 4 Illinois, No. 5 Minnesota, No. 8 California, No. 9 Temple and No. 12 Air Force.

The first session, set for 2 p.m., features No. 2 Penn State, No. 3 Stanford, No. 6 Michigan, No. 7 Ohio State, No. 10 Nebraska and No. 11 Iowa.

The top three teams from each session qualify for the team finals on April 20 at 7 p.m.

Oklahoma is hosting the NCAA Championships for the third time in the past 10 years, winning it all both times in 2002 and 2006. Overall, the Sooners have won five national titles since 2002, all under Williams.

Men's gymnastics' eight national titles are the most of any sport at the University of Oklahoma.

All session tickets to the NCAA Championships ($25 Adult, $15 Youth and OU Students) are on sale now. Purchase online or by calling the OU Athletics Ticket Office at (800) 456-GoOU.

Single-session tickets will go on sale the first day of competition at the Lloyd Noble Center at least an hour prior to competition beginning. All tickets are general admission.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

OU Reclaims No. 1 Ranking, Hosts NCAA's

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