Sooners Shine at P&G Championships

NORMAN, Okla. -- The Oklahoma men's gymnastics program showed its strength on the first day of the P&G Championships on Friday with current and former Sooners prominent all along the top of the all-around and event leaderboards.

The group of Sooners are hoping to be one of two all-arounders or one of four event specialists chosen to represent Team USA at the World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, following Sunday's competition.

Three former OU stars posted top marks in three different events. Steven Legendre recorded the best mark on floor with a score of 15.900, Alex Naddour posted a 15.450 to lead pommel horse and Jake Dalton scored 15.450 on parallel bars to best all competitors.

The three senior national team members are all among the top-five all-arounders after day one, with Dalton in second with a score of 88.700. Naddour is in third at 87.900 and Legendre comes in fifth with a score of 87.100.

In addition, current OU junior Michael Squires notched the second-highest score on still rings, recording a 15.400, setting up the 2013 national champion nicely for Sunday's competition.

Sophomore Kanji Oyama, who qualified for the national meet just last month, is a respectable 18th in the all-around at 83.950, including a seventh place on floor with a 15.250 score.

"Everyone did real well today," said OU head coach Mark Williams who is in Connecticut coaching at the Championships. "I'm relatively happy with everyone's efforts. We're looking forward to Sunday."

Dalton, a 2012 Olympian, also finished fourth on vault, fifth on high bar and sixth on floor. Legendre added to his top finish on floor with the sixth-best mark on rings and seventh-best on high bar while Naddour recorded one other top-10 finish placing third on rings.

In the junior division, four incoming OU freshmen completed their first day, led by Alex Powarzynski with a 79.400 all-around score, good for fourth place. Lee Grogan and Allan Bower rounded out the top 10 at ninth and 10th, respectively.

Highlights included third place by Bower on parallel bars, fourth place by Grogan on vault and sixth-place finishes on pommel horse and high bar for Powarzynski.

In the 15-16 division, Colin Van Wicklen finished day one in the 14th spot with an all-around score of 78.850. The Magnolia, Texas, native posted the top score on floor, recording a 14.950.

Competition resumes on Sunday, Aug. 18, beginning at noon CT on NBC for the senior division and 5:30 p.m. CT for the juniors on PGChamps.com's live stream.

Sooner rankings after day one are below. For complete results, click here.

Senior Competition - Day 1
All-Around	2. Jake Dalton	88.700
	3. Alex Naddour	87.900
	5. Steven Legendre	87.100
	18. Kanji Oyama	83.950
Floor Exercise	1. Steven Legendre	15.900
	6. Jake Dalton	15.300
	7. Kanji Oyama	15.250
	12. Alex Naddour	14.800
Pommel Horse	1. Alex Naddour	15.450
	15. Kanji Oyama	13.250
	19. Steven Legendre	13.000
	23. Jake Dalton	12.450
Still Rings	2. Michael Squires	15.400
	3. Alex Naddour	15.200
	5. Jake Dalton	15.150
	6. Steven Legendre	15.050
	17. Kanji Oyama	14.200
Vault	4. Jake Dalton	15.250
	17. Alex Naddour	14.650
	22. Steven Legendre	14.250
	23. Kanji Oyama	14.200
Parallel Bars	1. Jake Dalton	15.450
	13. Alex Naddour	14.300
	14. Steven Legendre	14.200
	26. Kanji Oyama	13.600
High Bar	5. Jake Dalton	15.100
	7. Steven Legendre	14.700
	20. Alex Naddour	13.500
	22. Kanji Oyama	13.450

Junior Competition - Day 1
All-Around	4. Alex Powarzynski	79.400
	9. Lee Grogan	77.650
	10. Allan Bower	76.750
	*14. Colin Van Wicklen	78.850
Floor Exercise	7. Alex Powarzynski	13.350
	12. Allan Bower	12.600
	13. Lee Grogan	12.250
	1. Colin Van Wicklen	14.950
Pommel Horse	6. Alex Powarzynski	12.600
	7. Allan Bower	12.300
	7. Lee Grogan	12.300
	24. Colin Van Wicklen	10.600
Still Rings	8. Allan Bower	13.050
	9. Alex Powarzynski	12.800
	11. Lee Grogan	12.750
	14. Colin Van Wicklen	13.350
Vault	4. Lee Grogan	14.250
	5. Alex Powarzynski	14.200
	10. Allan Bower	13.600
	15. Colin Van Wicklen	13.950
Parallel Bars	3. Allan Bower	13.700
	7. Alex Powarzynski	13.150
	8. Lee Grogan	13.000
	21. Colin Van Wicklen	12.350
High Bar	6. Alex Powarzynski	13.300
	7. Lee Grogan	13.100
	15. Allan Bower	11.500
	10. Colin Van Wicklen	13.650

*Note: Van Wicklen is competing in the 15-16 Junior division.

Players Mentioned

Allan Bower

Allan Bower

Alex Powarzynski

Alex Powarzynski

Michael Squires

Michael Squires

Colin Van Wicklen

Colin Van Wicklen

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics