No. 2 OU Goes for 20th Conference Title

April 5, 2013


	Cadet Gym, site of the 2013 MPSF Championship

No. 2 Men's Gymnastics at MPSF Conference Championship
Date & Time	Saturday, April 6 at 6 p.m. CT
Location	Colorado Springs, Colo. \| Cadet West Gymnasium
Watch Live	GoAirForceFalcons.com Webcast
All-Access	Championship Central
Meet Info	Meet Notes (PDF)
Additional Info	Twitter \| Facebook \| Instagram \| Media Guide

QUICK PREVIEW
The No. 2 University of Oklahoma men's gymnastics competes for its 20th conference title at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Conference Championship Saturday at 6 p.m. CT in Colorado Springs, Colo. The MPSF is a hybrid conference that features No. 4 Stanford, No. 9 California and No. 11 Air Force in addition to OU. The Sooners are the defending champion and have won 10 titles in the last 13 years, all under current head coach Mark Williams.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
• Second-ranked Oklahoma ended the regular season with a 15-1 after a 441.250-426.750 victory at home over No. 5 Ohio State. Thirteen of OU's victories have come against teams ranked in the top 12 nationally, while OU's lone loss came at then-No. 3 Stanford in a second-place effort at the Stanford Open on Jan. 19. The Sooners finished the regular season with one or fewer losses for the 12th time in the past 13 years.
• OU has won 19 conference championships, most recently last season. Since Mark Williams took over the program in 2000, the Sooners have claimed 10 team crowns, and have won 11 of the past 14 MPSF titles. Oklahoma's first eight championships came as members of the Big Eight, while its first MPSF win came in 1999.
• The Sooners own a 3-1 record this season against their conference foes. Then-No. 3 OU opened the season with a first-place finish at the Rocky Mountain Open on Jan. 12 with a 423.500 to defeat host and No. 11 Air Force, which finished third. The following weekend, No. 4 Oklahoma's 433.450 was second to third-ranked Stanford at the Stanford Open, while No. 6 California finished third. On Feb. 23, No. 3 Oklahoma downed 12th-ranked Air Force 440.300-420.050 at home.
• In the team event rankings, all four MPSF teams are ranked within the top 12 on every apparatus. No. 2 OU is featured in the top six on every event and is first on floor. No. 4 Stanford is in top eight and third on high bar, while sixth-ranked Cal is in the top 11 and highlighted by a No. 5 ranking on floor and vault. No. 12 Air Force is ranked in the top 12 on every event, including seventh on rings.
• In addition to 19 conference championships, OU also boasts 111 individual conference titles.

ON THE WEB
Fans can find a free live webcast of Saturday's meet via GoAirForceFalcons.com. Live results, updates and photos from Colorado Springs will be available on Twitter at @SoonerGymnasts, on Facebook at Facebook.com/SoonerGymnasts, and on Instagram at Instagram.com/OU_MGymnastics. Additionally, all-access updates will be available on the Championship Central page on SoonerSports.com.

Sooner to Watch
	Michael Reid \| So. \| Pommel Horse • Scored a career-high 15.400 on pommel horse in OU's win over Ohio State on March 23 • Named the MPSF Gymnast of the Week on March 26 • Ranked fifth nationally with a 14.983 four score average on pommel horse • Expected to anchor OU's pommel horse team Saturday

ALL-AROUND EXCELLENCE
Not only are the Sooners one of the nation's top all-around teams, but OU is also ranked in the country's top six in all six events, including the top two in three events. The Sooners are the top team on floor and No. 2 on pommel horse and high bar. The Troester event rankings also have Oklahoma at No. 3 on parallel bars, fourth on still rings and sixth on vault.

CONFERENCE DOMINANCE
Since joining the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in 1996, Oklahoma has claimed 12 conference titles, including 11 in the past 14 years. OU is the reigning conference champions, thanks to a 355.600 that secured the title in 2012.

HEAD COACH MARK WILLIAMS ON THE MPSF CHAMPIONSHIP
"We haven't met Cal and Stanford since the second week of the season, and I think we've continued to improve in that time period, scoring well in just about every opportunity that we've had. We'll see if being at a neutral site and being later in the season, maybe the results will be different. We certainly feel like we have a chance to amend the loss that we had to Stanford in January."

2012 MPSF CHAMPIONSHIP: OU WINS EIGHTH TITLE IN 10 YEARS
Oklahoma won its eighth conference championship in the last 10 years in 2012 behind a dominating performance by junior Jake Dalton, who collected four individual titles. Following the meet, Williams was named the MPSF's Coach of the Year.

OU won its 19th conference title after posting a 356.600 at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championship at the Air Force Academy. Since head coach Mark Williams took over the program in 2000, the Sooners have claimed 10 MPSF team titles.

Dalton, who was crowned the conference's Gymnast of the Year, claimed his second-straight MPSF all-around title with an 89.250 in a dominant performance. He placed in the top-two in all five of the events he counted, with conference titles on rings, parallel bars and high bar and second-place finishes on floor and vault.

GYMINFO NATIONAL RANKINGS
Oklahoma remained second in this week's GymInfo National Top 10 Rankings. Rankings are determined by taking a team's four highest scores, and dropping the highest score. The three remaining scores are averaged. Past and future OU opponents are in bold.

1. Penn State (444.767 )	6. Illinois (431.717)
2. OKLAHOMA (439.767)	7. Minnesota (430.700)
3. Michigan (437.267)	8. Iowa (427.367)
4. Stanford (434.317)	9. California (426.450)
5. Ohio State (433.233)	10. Nebraska (425.717)

FOUR MPSF GYMNASTS OF THE WEEK
The Sooners have earned four MPSF Gymnasts of the Week honors this season. Senior Chris Stehl and sophomores Michael Reid, Alec Robin and Jacoby Rubin have all been recognized by the conference for outstanding performances.

Rubin earned the award on Jan. 29 after he posted a team-best score of 15.000 on high bar, tied a team high with a 14.800 on pommel horse and scored a career-high 15.050 on rings at the Metroplex Challenge.

Robin was honored on Feb. 5 after he scored career-highs on five of six events, in addition to a career-high and first-place 85.400 in the all-around at Iowa. He recorded career highs on floor (15.300), pommel horse (13.800) and rings (13.200) and tied his career highs on vault (14.800) and high bar (14.550).

Stehl earned the second conference accolade of his career on March 12 after his season-high tying 15.500 on still rings lead No. 3 OU to a 432.100-431.250 upset win at then-No. 2 Michigan.

Reid was recognized on March 26 for the first time in his career after he posted a career-high 15.400 on March 23. His career-high score was a meet high on the event, 0.500 points, is the highest pommel horse score for OU this season on the apparatus and tied for the fourth-highest total in the country this year.

LAST TIME OUT: VS. NO. 5 OHIO STATE
• In their regular season finale, No. 2 Oklahoma posted a 441.250-426.750 victory over No. 5 Ohio State, their 22nd-straight win at the Field House.
• The Sooners found won five of six event titles and all but one individual event crown. OU's depth once again was on display, as each event was won by a different gymnast.
• Eight season or career highs were set and OU notched its third-highest point total of the season. Saturday's total of 441.250 was just 2.100 points off the highest mark of the season and the largest win since the revised, more challenging scoring system was put into place at the beginning of March.

UP NEXT
No. 2 Oklahoma has next weekend off before competing for its ninth NCAA Championship in Happy Valley, Pa. on April 19-21. Behind-the-scenes updates, photos and stats from Penn State will be available on Twitter at @SoonerGymnasts, on Facebook at Facebook.com/SoonerGymnasts, and on Instagram at Instagram.com/OU_MGymnastics. Additionally, the Championship Central page will continue to be updated through the national championship with daily updates, photos and more.