Oklahoma Men’s Gymnastics Set for Clash with Buckeyes in Columbus
NORMAN, Okla. — The No. 2 Oklahoma men’s gymnastics hits the road to battle Big Ten rival No. 6 Ohio State,
Saturday, March 13. The matchup between the Sooners and the Buckeyes will start at 4:00 p.m. at St. John Arena.
Oklahoma’s (9-1) undefeated streak came to an end in a loss against No. 2 Stanford in a triangular with No. 9 Nebraska at the Devaney Center on the campus of the University of Nebraska, March 7. With its 1-1 mark at the event, OU is now 6-1 against top 10 opponents on the year.
Oklahoma claimed at least a share of three team event titles on the day with wins on floor (62.850), pommel horse (56.800) and a share of the parallel bars title with Stanford (59.500).
Last season, OU posted a 357.450 team score en route to a victory over Ohio State claiming four team event titles on the night, including wins on floor (61.800), vault (63.150), parallel bars (58.850) and high bar (58.100).
OPPONENT PREVIEW
Last week, Ohio State (7-5, 3-3 Big Ten) downed California, 351.800-346.00, in St. John Arena as six different Buckeyes recorded first-place finishes on five of the six events. On Feb. 28, Ohio State earned a huge Big Ten Conference win, defeating Penn State, 353.600-347.100, after earning event wins on pommel horse, rings, parallel bars and high bar.
UP
The Sooners will face another rival from the Big Ten conference on the road with a trip to the Penn State on March 20.
Since 2000, the Sooners and Nittany Lions and have combined to win the last eight titles. OU leads the pack with five national championships while Penn State has claimed three championship (2000, 2004, 2007).
A AT
The top-ranked Oklahoma men’s gymnastics team’s undefeated streak came to an end in a loss against No. 2 Stanford in a triangular with No. 9 Nebraska at the Devaney Center on the campus of the University of Nebraska, March 7.
The Sooners placed second despite posting their highest score of the season (360.300). Stanford won the meet with a 361.650, while the Cornhuskers scored a 347.500.
OKLAHOMA VS. NEBRASKA, STANFORD INDIVIDUAL TITLES
All-Around: Steven Legendre
Floor Exercise: Steven Legendre
Pommel Horse: Alex Naddour
HORTON BROOKS AT AMERICAN
One month after winning the Winter Cup National title in the all-around, Chris Brooks finished third at the 2010 Tyson American Cup on Saturday in Worcester, Mass.
Brooks, a four-year letterwinner and current volunteer assistant at Oklahoma, finished be hind another former Sooner, Jonathon Horton. A four-year letterwinner and 2008 Olympic silver medalist, Horton posted a 90.150 while Brooks tallied a 89.900.
Both Horton and Brooks finished ahead of reigning Tyson American Cup champion and 2008 Olympic horizontal bar bronze-medalist Fabian Hambuechen of Germany, who finished in fourth place. Maxim Devyatovsky won the competition with a 90.600.
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This week, freshman Jacob Dalton (88.833) and junior Steven Legendre (88.483) were ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the national all-around rankings.
Dalton and Legendre have both been in the top five of the all-around standings seven of the last eight weeks the of national rankings. In week five, Dalton overtook the number one position in the all-around standings and has yet to leave the top spot this season.
LEGENDRE IT AGAIN
Leading the Sooners the past two meets was junior Steven Legendre, claiming back-to-back all-around titles.
Both all-around titles of the season have been scores of 89.500 (Minnesota) and 88.850 (Nebraska, Stanford). Legendre has claimed eight all-around titles in his career, including the 2009 National All-Around Title.
POMMEL HORSE
Freshman Alex Naddour started his career at Oklahoma braking the pommel horse event record. Since that week Naddour has gone on to win four of the six event titles on the ap paratus with an average score of 15.200.
Updated 03-11-2010
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