OU Welcomes Simpson College to McCasland

THE MEET

No. 2 Oklahoma plays host to Simpson College Saturday at McCasland Field House. The meet will begin at 6 p.m., and will be televised via SoonerVision on ESPN+ with Chad McKee and Peter Daggett calling the action. Live scoring will be available via OUStats.com.

TICKETS & PROMOTIONS

Tickets for Saturday's meet can be purchased for $5 or $7. Fans holding a ticket to the OU women's gym meet Friday night or the women's basketball game against West Virginia on Saturday afternoon and gain free admission to the men's gym meet with the gym or basketball ticket as part of the National Girls and Women in Sports celebration.

OU students in attendance can enter a raffle to win an iPad Pro, a 50 inch TV, Beats headphones or one of five Stanley drinking cups with handle.

FOLLOW ALONG

The meet will be televised via SoonerVision on ESPN+ with Chad McKee and Peter Daggett calling the action. Live scoring will be available via OUStats.com.

STICKS

• Freshman Ignacio Yockers posted the highest pommel horse score (14.800) in the nation so far this season last weekend against Illinois and Air Force. It was also OU's best pommel score since the 2018 season, when Yul Moldauer and Genki Suzuki scored 14.800. Yockers was named CGA National Specialist of the Week and MPSF Freshman of the Week.

• Fifth-year senior Vitaliy Guimaraes was recognized as Inside Gymnastics' Gymnast of the Week after notching event victories in vault (14.950) and floor (14.750) last weekend. His floor score is the highest nationally so far this season.

• Entering the weekend, Yockers holds the nation's best pommel horse score (14.800) by a .350 margin. Guimaraes holds the best floor score (14.750) by the same .350 margin.

• Oklahoma is unbeaten inside McCasland Field House since the 2007 season, a span of 81 consecutive meets. The Sooners were victorious in all but one of those meets. The lone exception was a tie with Stanford during the 2021 season.

LAST TIME OUT

Fifth-year senior Vitaly Guimaraes won two events and Oklahoma scored a 405.450 to win its home opener over Illinois (404.450) and Air Force (380.450) at McCasland Field House.

Guimaraes won vault (14.950) and floor exercise (14.750) with meet and season-high scores, while sophomore Raydel Gamboa won high bar (13.650) and Ignacio Yockers claimed pommel horse (14.800). OU posted a 70.100 on vault and won the floor (69.450), parallel bars (68.050) and high bar (64.950) events.

Guimaraes led the Sooners in the opening rotation with a big 14.750 on floor. Junior Zach Nunez followed Yockers' huge pommel horse score with a season-high 14.300. On still rings, senior Alan Camillus paced the squad with a season-high 13.500.

Trailing Illinois by 1.25 points at the midway point (203.550 to 202.300), the Sooners came back in a big way on vault to retake the lead. Guimaraes anchored the rotation with a team season-best 14.950 score. Nunez posted a personal season-best 14.350 and Dodanli put up a 14.000 as three gymnasts scored 14.000 or better on the event.

Guimaraes and Gamboa anchored Oklahoma with twin season-high 14.100 scores on parallel bars. Entering the final rotation, the Sooners clung to a lead of nearly two points (340.450 to 338.500). On high bar, Gamboa led the way with a 13.650, Dodanli and freshman Kelton Christiansen each posted 13.400 scores and Seyler put up a 13.350.

WINTER CUP QUALIFIERS

A total of nine current, former or future Oklahoma gymnasts have qualified for Winter Cup national re-ranking event that will be held Feb. 24-26 in Louisville, Ky. Current Sooners Vitaliy Guimaraes, Spencer Goodell, Zach Nunez, Jack Freeman, Dan Simmons and Ignacio Yockers, alumni Yul Moldauer and Colin Van Wicklen and OU signee Max Bereznev have all qualified for Winter Cup.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

This weekend marks the second of three straight home meets for Oklahoma in the friendly confines of McCasland Field House.

Following this weekend's meet, OU will host Stanford and William & Mary on Feb. 11 at 6 p.m.

OU returns to the road Feb. 17 for a dual meet at Nebraska before the Winter Cup break. Winter Cup will be held Feb. 24-26 in Louisville, Ky.

The Sooners return home for a matchup against Michigan on March 4 at 6 p.m., travel to Columbus, Ohio, on March 11 to face Ohio State and Penn State before closing the regular season at California on March 18.

The MPSF Championship will be held April 1 in Colorado Springs, Colo. The NCAA qualifier and Championships will be held April 14-15 in University Park, Pa.