Eight Sooners Qualify for Winter Cup Finals

LAS VEGAS – Competing individually, current and former members of the Oklahoma men's gymnastics team made their presence known on day one at the 2016 Winter Cup in Las Vegas, Nev. In total, eight Sooners qualified to advance to the Saturday's finals.

Current Sooners Levi Anderson, Allan Bower, Hunter Justus, Yul Moldauer, Kanji Oyama and Colin Van Wicklen, as well as assistant coach Steven Legendre and former Sooner Jake Dalton will all compete on in the finals on day two.

Oyama and Anderson started the day on the right note, finishing first and third respectively in the all-around in the day's first session. Oyama, a senior, posted an 85.150 on the back of strong marks on rings (14.800), floor (14.50) and vault (14.450). Anderson, a freshman, put up his best marks of the day on vault (14.600) and floor (14.350), both career bests, en route to an 82.950.

Oklahoma was well represented in session two. Moldauer scored the highest all-around total of the day for OU and finished second overall with an 87.350. The freshman posted the highest score of the session on parallel bars with a mark of 15.250 and also finished in the top 10 on rings (4^th - 14.800), pommel horse (9^th - 14.650) and vault (T10th - 14.950).

Bower also had a strong showing on Thursday night, finishing 10^th in the all-around with a mark of 85.450. The junior came in third on pommel horse (14.950) and seventh on parallel bars (14.350). Van Wicklen, who competed on just three events, had his best performance of the day on vault scoring a 14.950. Dalton was strong on vault as well, posting a 15.200. Legendre turned in two more top-10 performances for OU. The Sooner assistant coach tied for first on vault with a 15.300 and came in second on floor with a mark of 15.150.

Competition resumes with the finals on Saturday, Feb. 20 at 9:15 p.m. CT. Live scoring and video will be available at WinterCupChallenge.com/live.

Performances at the 2016 Winter Cup will help determine the 15 men who will comprise the U.S. Men's Senior National Team through the 2016 P&G Gymnastics Championships in June. The six members of the 2015 World Championships squad, including former Sooners Chris Brooks and Alex Naddour, plus the alternate, retain their spots on the national team. The remaining eight spots will be determined based on the following criteria: the top three ranked all-around athletes who are not already on the senior national team; two based on the National Team Points System; two athletes selected by the Men's Program Committee; and one selected by the national team coordinator.

The top 42 gymnasts, according to the Men's Program Committee's points ranking system, will advance to the final competition on Saturday, along with the top three gymnasts on each apparatus. The all-around and individual event champions will be determined via a combined two-day score.