OU's Quest for NCAA Title Begins Friday

THE MEET

• Oklahoma competes for its 13th national championship this weekend at the NCAA Championships in Columbus, Ohio. The No. 2 seeded Sooners face No. 3 Michigan, host and No. 6 Ohio State, No. 7 Penn State, No. 10 Air Force and No. 11 Springfield in the second qualifying session at 6 p.m. CT on Friday, April 19. OU will begin the meet on floor exercise.

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

• 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 on Saturday, April 20 will determine team, all-around and individual event champions.

WATCH/FOLLOW

• A live video stream of each individual event will be available on NCAA.com with commentary provided. For the finals on Saturday, a video stream will provide whiparound coverage of the meet in addition to the individual apparatus streams.

• Live scoring will be available via StatBroadcast: Friday Session II; Saturday Finals.

STICKS

• Oklahoma faced three of its five qualifying session opponents during the regular season. The Sooners topped Ohio State 411.500 to 400.600 on Feb. 3 in Norman and fell to Michigan 416.300 to 409.550 in Ann Arbor, Mich., on March 2. OU has defeated Air Force three times this season: 413.600 to 382.750 on Feb. 13 in Norman, 420.350 to 392.750 at the Rocky Mountain Open on Jan. 20 and 418.400 to 395.450 at the MPSF Championship in Norman on April 6.

• OU, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and Springfield all shared a qualifying session at the 2023 NCAA Championships. The Sooners won that qualifier with a score of 415.491, and were followed in qualifying for the finals by Penn State (415.290) and Michigan (413.922).

• Redshirt sophomore Fuzzy Benas, OU's CGA Gymnast of the Year nominee, was named to the USA Gymnastics Men's Senior National Team in February after tying for fifth at Winter Cup. He went on his first international assignment in March, helping Team USA win gold in the Mixed Cup at DTB Pokal in Stuttgart, Germany. He leads the nation in the all-around with his 82.633 NQA, and ranks among the top 20 nationally in four events: PH (14), SR (19), VT (10), PB (5). In seven meets with Benas in the lineup as a full participant, the Sooners are averaging a 415.214 team score (the exeptions were at Illinois [only three events], at Simpson and at Stanford/vs. Cal [not not compete]). He has completed the all-around five times (including two rounds at Winter Cup) and boasts an overall average of 83.170.

• Junior Emre Dodanli, OU's CGA Specialist of the Year nominee, has recorded the five highest floor exercise scores in the nation this season (15.250 at Rocky Mountain Open, 15.050 vs. Cal, 14.900 at Michigan, 15.050 at Stanford/Cal and 14.950 in the MPSF Championship). No other gymnast nationally has scored higher than 14.800 on floor this season. He is the first gymnast nationally to register a 15-plus score on floor since the 2021 season. His 15.250 was the highest floor score nationally since the 2021 NCAA Finals (15.266 by OU's Gage Dyer). He is ranked among the top 10 nationally on three events: FX (1), HB (6), VT (8).

• The Sooners have won 45 individual event titles and 38 team event titles in nine meets this season (including the top score on high bar in nine of 10 meets [March 16 was the exception]). Dodanli paces OU with 12 event victories in his eight meets, while sophomore Ignacio Yockers has claimed nine event titles, sophomore Kelton Christiansen has won four and Benas has won three. Dodanli, who led the team with seven event titles in 2023, currently has the most individual event medals by a Sooner since Benas won 12 event titles in 2022. Dodanli (FX), Yockers (PH) and Christiansen (HB) won conference titles on their respective events.

• Freshman Nico Hamilton, OU's CGA Rookie of the Year nominee, has competed in eight meets this season and ranks 10th nationally on floor exercise (13.988). He is the only freshman ranked among the national top-10 on floor exercise. He was named CGA national Rookie of the Week on March 6 and MPSF Freshman of the Week twice (March 5 and March 12). He posted a nearly perfect 9.5 execution score on his 14.800 floor exercise routine at Michigan and has scored 14 or better in three of his six floor routines. Despite not competing in OU's first two meets of the season, Hamilton debuted on parallel bars Jan. 28 at Illinois, scoring a 13.800 in his first collegiate routine, and notched a career-high 13.950 on the event in the MPSF Championship.

• In six meets this season, all five Sooners in the vault lineup have scored 14.000 or better: at Illinois (Jan. 28), vs. California (Feb. 10), at Simpson (Feb. 17), at Michigan (March 2), vs. Navy (March 9) and at Stanford/vs. Cal (March 16). OU has scored better than 72.000 on vault seven times and no lower than 70.950 (coincidentally, that was at the Rocky Mountain Open, when it scored a season high of 420.350 in the team all-around).

• Oklahoma's 70.950 on high bar on Feb. 10 was its highest score on the event since posting a 71.150 on March 9, 2019, and its first 70-plus score on high bar since March 16, 2019 (70.100). Christiansen notched a career- and team-season high 14.700, which was OU's highest individual score on high bar since the 2019 season.

NATIONAL RANKINGS NOTES

• Entering the NCAA postseason, Oklahoma leads the nation on floor exercise (70.200 NQA; 0.712 points higher than second-ranked Nebraska [69.488]) and horizontal bar (68.638 NQA; 0.400 points higher than second-ranked Nebraska [68.238]). OU ranks second on pommel horse (69.650 NQA; 0.588 points behind Stanford [70.238]) and vault (72.263 NQA; 0.037 points behind Ohio State [72.300]). The Sooners also rank third on parallel bars (68.575 NQA) and fourth on still rings (68.213 NQA).

• Junior Emre Dodanli ranks first nationally in floor exercise with his 14.975 NQA. Fifth-year senior Jack Freeman's 14.075 NQA ranks eighth and freshman Nico Hamilton's 13.988 NQA ranks 10th.

• Sophomore Ignacio Yockers ranks first on pommel horse with his 15.000 NQA as the only gymnast in the country to have an NQA of 15.000 or higher. Senior Zach Nunez follows in seventh with his 14.438 NQA.

• Dodanli is tied for eighth on vault with his 14.625 NQA along with freshman Max Bereznev. Redshirt sophomore Fuzzy Benas follows in 10th with his 14.613 NQA.

• Benas' 14.338 parallel bars NQA ranks third nationally. On high bar, sophomore Kelton Christiansen ranks second with his 14.175 NQA, Freeman ranks fourth with his 14.125 NQA and Dodanli ranks sixth with a 14.000 NQA.

• Benas leads the nation in the individual all-around with his 82.663 average. His 85.200 at Rocky Mountain Open remains the fourth-highest all-around score in the nation this season.

LAST TIME OUT

• Three Sooners claimed individual event championships, but Oklahoma finished second to No. 1 Stanford in the MPSF Championship on April 6 at McCasland Field House. OU totaled 418.400 and Stanford totaled 422.700, while No. 8 California placed third with a 405.600 and No. 10 Air Force finished fourth with a 395.450.

• Emre Dodanli, a two-time MPSF floor exercise champion, won the floor title with a 14.950, Ignacio Yockers won pommel horse with a 15.150 and Kelton Christiansen won horizontal bar with a 14.100. Fuzzy Benas notched an 83.700 to place third in the all-around. He claimed third place on rings (14.250), vault (14.650) and parallel bars (14.350), while Jack Freeman finished second on high bar (14.000).

• OU registered its highest score of the season on still rings (69.900), posted its second-highest floor exercise score (70.400) and its third-highest score on parallel bars (69.500), and notched the highest score of the meet on high bar (67.750). Oklahoma's 418.400 was its second-highest team total this season and its highest score in a home meet this year.

• Six gymnasts earned a total of nine MPSF all-conference honors: Benas (AA, SR, VT, PB), Dodanli (FX), Yockers (PH), Christiansen (HB), Freeman (HB) and Bereznev (VT).

HISTORY AND TRADITION

• Oklahoma has won 12 national championships (1977, '78, '91, 2002, '03, '05, '06, '08, '15, '16, '17, '18), 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 of the last 22 NCAA Championships, and has reached 24 consecutive NCAA finals, or every championship held since 2000 (does not count the 2020 championship canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

• Mark Williams has led Oklahoma to nine national titles over the course of his 24 complete 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 claimed second place in three straight championships: 2019, '21 and '22, and have finished in the top three in 21 of the last 23 NCAA Championships.