MEN?S GYMNASTICS ANNOUNCES 2016 SCHEDULE

Our mission is to qualify into the team finals and see if we can defend as national champions and win our 10^th as a program.
Head Coach Mark Williams

NORMAN – University of Oklahoma head men's gymnastics coach Mark Williams announced Oklahoma's 2016 schedule Friday.

The defending national and MPSF champion Sooners will compete against a challenging schedule before heading to the NCAA Championships in April hosted by Ohio State.

“Our mission is to qualify into the team finals and see if we can defend as national champions and win our 10^th as a program,” Williams said. “It is a good test. We can face the challenge of traveling and competing in hostile environments. The only team that is not on our schedule that may be a factor is Penn State, so we will have been tested by the time we get to NCAAs.”

Oklahoma will open the 2016 campaign at the Rocky Mountain Open in Colorado Springs, Colo., for the 12th consecutive season on Jan. 16 and then will head north to compete against Michigan one week later on Jan. 23.

“That'll be good to face Air Force and Nebraska to get our legs under us,” Williams said. “The next week we go to Michigan. It is always difficult to compete up there and they have been national champions twice in the past three years. That'll be a good challenge for us early.”

Following the trip to Ann Arbor, the Sooners return to Norman for their home opener with Iowa and California on Jan. 30. A week later, OU hosts Nebraska on Feb. 6.

“We are looking forward to a pair of good home events there,” Williams said. “Hopefully we will have settled down our lineup and begin to understand where we are as a team.”

There is then a break in the team's competitions, as the Sooner gymnasts will compete as individuals at the Winter Cup in Las Vegas, Nevada from Feb. 18-20.

“Winter Cup is more for the guys trying to make the national team,” Williams said. “It won't be a complete team event. Steven Legendre will be there trying to remake the national team and so will Jake Dalton. We will probably have about six or seven of our guys invited to that as well.”

The regular season then wraps up with four head-to-head competitions before the championship portion of the schedule commences. OU hosts Minnesota at McCasland Fieldhouse on Feb. 27 and welcomes Stanford on Mar. 5, before traveling to Ohio State to compete against the Buckeyes on March 11. The Sooners' final regular season meet will be at Illinois on March 20.

“The Stanford meet will be a big test for both teams heading into the last half of the season. Williams said. “Stanford was the national runner-up last year and I expect them to be a real test.”

“Then we finish up the regular season with Ohio State. They are hosting nationals so that will be a good trip for us to get familiar with the environment before we go to NCAAs. We go to Illinois for the last dual competition. The last time we saw them they handed us one of our few defeats. We want to be thinking toward the post season at that point.”

The Sooners will look to claim their 15th MPSF championship in 18 seasons on March 28 in Colorado Springs, Colo., competing against Stanford, California and Air Force.

Oklahoma will wrap up the season with the NCAA Championships from April 14-15. The Sooners will look to defend their 2015 title and claim their 10th national championship in program history.

Get inside looks at the Sooners throughout the season by liking the OU Men's Gymnastics Facebook page and by following the team on Twitter and Instagram using the handle @OU_MGymnastics.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

MEN?S GYMNASTICS ANNOUNCES 2016 SCHEDULE

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