Spears and Kanewa Earn Big 12 Honors

March 11, 2013

NORMAN, Okla. -- Junior Taylor Spears was named Big 12 Gymnast of the Week and freshman Maile'ana Kanewa was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week the conference announced Monday.

The two Sooners were joined by Iowa State's Michelle Shealy who claimed Specialist of the Week honors. Spears is the Gymnast of the Week recipient for the fifth time this season, while while this is Kanewa's second award.

Spears won her fifth all-around title of the year against No. 16 Arizona, posting a 39.600. The No. 3 all-arounder in the nation, Spears' performance was highlighted by a 9.95 on floor, tying a career high. The junior continued her strong performance on Sunday against No. 9 Stanford and UNC, including scoring a 9.925 on beam to help her maintain the No. 1 individual beam national ranking.

Kanewa stuck a career high 9.95 on vault to lead all gymnasts against No. 16 Arizona, winning her second vault title in her third meet back from wrist surgery. Kanewa followed up with a 9.9 on vault against No. 9 Stanford and UNC, tying for second place overall.

OU gymnasts have now won 25 of the Big 12's 28 weekly honors this season. The Sooners will close out the regular season at No. 4 Alabama on Friday, March 15, at 7:30 p.m. CT.

Players Mentioned

Maile'ana Kanewa

Taylor Spears

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics