No. 2 OU Begins NCAA Championships Friday

THE MEET

No. 2 Oklahoma will compete for the national championship this weekend, beginning with the NCAA Qualifying meet Friday evening at Rec Hall in University Park, Pa. The Sooners will face off against No. 3 Michigan, host and No. 6 Penn State, No. 7 Ohio State, No. 10 California and No. 11 Springfield in the second qualifying session at 6 p.m. CT Friday.

The first qualifying session, to be held at noon CT Friday, will consist of No. 1 Stanford, No. 4 Illinois, No. 5 Nebraska, No. 8 Air Force, No. 9 Navy and No. 12 Army.

The top three teams and the top three all-around competitors not on one of the qualifying teams, plus the top three individuals on each event not already qualified on a team or as an all-around competitor, will advance from each qualifying session to the finals. The NCAA Championship finals, set for 5 p.m. CT Saturday will determine team, all-around and individual event champions.

Oklahoma faced four of its five qualifying session opponents during the regular season. The Sooners bested Michigan 411.850 to 398.900 at the Rocky Mountain Open on Jan. 21 and 414.550 to 410.400 in a dual meet in Norman on March 4. OU topped Cal 410.050 to 381.450 in Berkeley, Calif., on March 18 and 409.500 to 388.600 at the MPSF Championships last weekend. The Crimson and Cream won a tri-meet over both Penn State (410.000 to 404.450) and Ohio State (410.000 to 397.600) in Columbus, Ohio, on March 11.

The Sooners, which are 17-2 this season, are seeking their 13th NCAA team championship. The Sooners have won 12 NCAA men's gymnastics championships, including nine under head coach Mark Williams, and have finished first or second in 19 of the last 21 NCAA team championships held. OU's most recent national championship was in 2018, the final in a run of four straight national titles. Oklahoma and Penn State are tied for the most men's gymnastics national championships nationally. Stanford has won each of the last three national championships.

FOLLOW ALONG

A live stream of the NCAA Championships will be available at NCAA.com. Individual links are available to watch each event for both qualifying sessions and the finals. Live results will be available via StatBroadcast.

STICKS

•   Oklahoma has scored better than 410.000 in five of its last six meets (and better than 414.500 in three of its last six), including a pair of back-to-back 418s against Stanford/William & Mary at home on Feb. 11 (season-best 418.900) and at Nebraska/vs. Simpson on Feb. 17 (418.250). The Sooners topped Michigan on March 4 in their home finale with a score of 414.550, won a tri-meet over Penn State and Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio, with a score of 410.000 and defeated Cal in the regular season finale with a 410.050 score.
•   OU has registered the top team score nationally three times this season (Week 6/Feb. 11, Week 7/Feb. 17 and Week 9/March 4).
•   Oklahoma rose to the nation's top spot in the Feb. 20 rankings, and held the position until April 3. The Sooners have been ranked first or second in the national rankings all season.
•   Oklahoma leads the nation in floor exercise (70.000 average; 1.150 points higher than second place Stanford [68.850]). OU ranks second in pommel horse (68.163; 0.300 points behind Illinois [68.463]) and parallel bars (69.450), third in high bar (67.863), fifth in still rings (67.838) and seventh in vault (71.113).
•   Fifth-year senior Spencer Goodell was announced March 9 as a finalist for the Nissen-Emery Award. Goodell is a senior captain, an All-American, a two-time Winter Cup participant, a former U.S. Junior National Team member who competed with the Senior National Team at the 2018 Pan American Championships and a college graduate who is working toward his master's degree.
•   True freshman Ignacio Yockers was named the MPSF Specialist of the Year in a vote by the league's coaches. He is also a nominee for the CGA Specialist of the Year and Rookie of the Year awards. The Tulsa, Okla., product is currently ranked second nationally in pommel horse (14.800 NQA; only 0.025 points behind Illinois' Ian Skirkey), though he led the nation for the majority of the season. Yockers recorded the highest collegiate pommel score in the country to date with his 15.550 set on Feb. 17.
•   Fifth-year senior Vitaliy Guimaraes is OU's nominee for CGA Gymnast of the Year. He has won five event titles this season (floor three times, including a season-high 14.750 score on Jan. 28, and vault twice, notching a season-high 14.950 on Jan. 28). He ranks third nationally in overall floor average (14.317).

INDIVIDUAL NATIONAL RANKINGS NOTES

•   True freshman Ignacio Yockers ranks second nationally pommel horse NQA (14.800). In his last seven collegiate meets, he has registered scores of 14.800, 14.600, 15.100, 15.550, 15.200, 14.150, 14.600 and 13.950, and at Winter Cup, posted scores of 14.942 and 15.472. His 15.550 pommel horse routine at Nebraska was the highest pommel score in the country in NCAA competition this season, and was Oklahoma's highest pommel horse since 2017.
•   Sophomore Emre Dodanli ranks second nationally on floor with an NQA of 14.438. His high score of 14.800, set on March 18, is the third-highest floor score in the country this season. Fifth-year senior Vitaliy Guimaraes ranks fifth in floor NQA (14.213), but ranks third in overall average (14.250). Fifth-year senior Spencer Goodell ranks sixth (14.150) and senior Jack Freeman ranks 10th on floor (14.125). Goodell's 14.900, set Feb. 11, is tied for the highest score in the country this season.
•   Goodell ranks fifth nationally on parallel bars (14.138) and 12th on still rings (13.825). Dodanli ranks ninth on vault (14.550), ninth on the horizontal bar (13.875) and 10th (14.000) on parallel bars.
•   Junior Zach Nunez ranks eighth nationally on pommel horse, with an NQA of 13.900, but is third in overall scoring with a 14.119 average. True freshman Mac Seyler ranks 18th in NQA on pommel horse (13.525), but is ninth in horse with an overall average of 13.467. True freshman Kelton Christiansen ranks sixth nationally on horizontal bar with an NQA of 13.975, but is fourth in overall average (13.728), while senior Jack Freeman ranks seventh on the high bar with an NQA of 13.925.
•   Junior Zach Nunez has completed the all-around three times this season, recording an 83.350 average. He was ranked No. 1 nationally in the all-around two weeks ago, and would still lead the nation if he met the four-score minimum for the national rankings. He has posted all-around scores of 83.400, 83.550 and 83.100.

HISTORY AND TRADITION

Oklahoma has won 12 national championships, tied for most in NCAA history (tied with Penn State), including nine national titles since 2000. The Sooners have finished first or second in 19 or the last 21 NCAA Championships, or every championship held since 2001 (does not count the 2020 championship canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

Mark Williams has led nine different teams to a national title over the course of his 23 seasons as head coach of the Sooners. OU won an NCAA championship held in Norman three times: 2002, 2006 and 2015.

The Sooners last won an NCAA championship in 2018 in Chicago, Ill., capping a run of four consecutive national titles (2015-18). The Sooners have claimed second place in three straight championships: 2019, '21 and '22, and have first in the top three in 17 consecutive NCAA Championships.