Five Sooners Set for U.S. Olympic Trials

June 26, 2012

NORMAN, Okla. - Oklahoma junior Jake Dalton and four former Sooner gymnasts will look to achieve their Olympic dreams as they fight for a spot in London at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials beginning Thursday at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.

Dalton will be joined by Sooner letter winners Chris Brooks (2006-2009), 2008 Olympian Jonathan Horton (2005-2008), Steven Legendre (2008-2011) and Alex Naddour (2010-2011). All five Sooners are current members of the U.S. National Team and advanced to the U.S. Olympic Trials after their performances at the 2012 Visa Championships earlier this month.

The five Sooners compose one-third of the 15-man field, vying for a spot on the five-man United States roster. The U.S. representatives in London will be determined by the Trials, subject to the approval of the U.S. Olympic Committee's board of directors.

Oklahoma has produced three Olympians in men's gymnastics and has been represented in the past two Summer Olympic Games by Guard Young in 2004 and Horton in 2008, both under current head coach Mark Williams.

Dalton, the 2012 NCAA all-around champion and 11-time All-American, looks to become the first Sooner to make the Olympic squad while still in school since Bart Conner.

The junior recently demonstrated his potential by winning national titles at the Visa USA Championships on vault and floor for the second year in a row. Heading into the biggest meet of his life, Dalton knows what he has to do to advance to London.

"We have to be confident and trust in our gymnastics," said Dalton. "We've done everything we can in the gym and it's time to go out and show it off again. I did pretty well at Visa's so it's time to basically go and do the same thing, fixing a few mistakes here and there. I've been hitting my sets and doing them pretty clean so I feel I can show that I'm consistent and my routines are at a high level, even with the pressure. I'm not trying to overthink everything too much."

Dalton realizes the importance of this week's Trials and is motivated to fulfill his childhood dream.

"This is something I've been dreaming about since I was a little kid," said Dalton. "It would just mean everything in the world to me. All the hard work would start to be paying off. That's not where it would end though. It all pays off when Team USA goes and wins the Gold. It would mean so much to me, my family, teammates the fans and coaches."

Legendre, who competed for OU from 2008-2011, served this past season as an undergraduate volunteer assistant and trained with OU Head Coach Mark Williams in preparation for the Olympic qualifying process. The 2011 Nissen-Emery Award winner and 2009 NCAA all-around champion, Legendre owns Oklahoma records for career NCAA individual titles at six, a mark previously held by Olympian Horton.

With one-third of the Olympic Trials field being gymnasts from the Oklahoma program, Dalton feels honored to be a part of the prestigious history that the Sooners boast.

"The history just speaks for itself," said Dalton. "Obviously OU is a great place to be, a great place to train and compete, a great place to go to school and continue your gymnastics career. With so many high level athletes come through here and with the amount of success that Mark has already had, we're continuing to do the same thing. It shows everybody that's looking to come here what you can get out of it and what you can become."

NBC Sports Network, formerly known as Versus, will broadcast the first day of men's competition live on June 28 from 4:30 to 7 p.m. CT. Then, NBC will broadcast live coverage on television and at NBCOlympics.com of the men's final day on June 30 at 3 p.m. CT.

OU's Olympic History:
The University of Oklahoma has produced three past Olympic gymnasts, dating back to three-time Olympian Bart Conner. The 1981 graduate represented the United States in both 1976 and 1980 before winning it all on American soil at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Calif. In addition to helping Team USA take home Gold, Conner proved to be the world's top gymnast on parallel bars, winning individual Gold.

In 2008, Oklahoma gymnast Jonathan Horton helped the United States win Bronze at the Summer Games in Beijing, China. Horton also found individual success, taking Silver in the high bar portion of the event.

Upon graduating from BYU in 2001, current OU assistant Guard Young returned to his home state of Oklahoma to train with Williams for the Olympic Games while serving as an assistant coach for the Sooners. Young represented the United States at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, where the Americans claimed Silver.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Five Sooners Set for U.S. Olympic Trials

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