Sooners Take Second at Stanford Open

Saturday, January 29

Stanford, CA

University of Oklahoma

405.450

410.250

Stanford

January 29, 2022 | Men's Gymnastics

Results Highlights

Team Scores
	OU	Stanford	Cal
FX	68.850	67.150	66.750
PH	66.750	66.650	64.150
SR	66.300	68.600	62.150
VT	70.950	72.100	68.650
PB	68.350	70.000	65.950
HB	64.350	65.750	65.350
Total	405.450	410.250	393.000

PALO ALTO, CALIF. — The No. 2 Oklahoma men's gymnastics team took second with a 405.450 at the Stanford Open in Palo Alto, Calif. against No. 1 Stanford (410.250) and No. 9 Cal (393.000).

"I thought we had a good competition," said head coach Mark Williams. "It's always difficult to compete on the road, especially against the No. 1 team and National Champions. We have some new guys that are stepping up and learning how to compete at the NCAA level."

"I'm pretty happy with everything that Fuzzy did tonight. Raydel had a really good meet. Jack Freeman had probably the best night he's ever had as a Sooner. Really congratulations to Jack who qualified for Winter Cup."

The Sooners started the night off on still rings where they put up a team score of 66.300. The squad was paced by freshman Fuzzy Benas' 13.950 performance. Junior Jack Freeman put up a 13.300 and both Evan Perreault and Zach Nunez collected a 13.100.

In the second rotation of the evening, the Sooners put up a 70.950 on vault. Benas earned an impressiveI14.700 on the event, putting him in third overall and setting a career-best. Freshman Raydel Gamboa also set a career-high with a 14.500. Nunez chipped in a 14.100.

OU took on parallel bars for the third event of the meet and gathered a score of 68.250. Benas took second overall with a big 14.750. Gamboa and Goodell added to the team's total with a 13.800 and 13.450, respectively.

On high bar, the Sooners registered a 64.350 for the fourth rotation. Both Freeman and Nunez earned a 13.400 and Cesar Gracia collected a 13.300.

In the fifth rotation, the squad produced three 14-plus scores on floor exercise to bring the team tally to 68.850, the best team score on floor for the night. Alexei Vernyi collected his season-high score with a 14.050, while Gamboa also put up a 14.050. Not far behind was Freeman with his 14.000.

In the sixth and final rotation of the meet, the Sooners scored a 66.750 on pommel horse. The squad was paced by Nunez's impressive 14.100 routine, good for a second-place finish. Benas helped the team tally with his 13.700 on the event. Alan Camillus and Braden Collier helped with their respective 13.250 and 13.050.

"Having our second best score of the season and having it on the road after a pretty long day of travel, it was just a lot of positives. I'm very pleased. We're still getting better. There are definitely things we need to work on and a gap we need to close with Stanford, but we're going to make those in increments."

With his 79.650, Freeman qualified to February's Winter Cup, making it five Sooners qualified for the meet.

The Sooners take a week off before continuing their road swing Saturday, Feb. 12 in Champaign, Ill., at Illinois. The meet is slated for a 4 p.m. CT start.

For updates and more information, follow @OU_MGymnastics on Twitter or like Oklahoma Men's Gymnastics on Facebook.