Oklahoma Seeks Ninth National Gymnastics Championship
WEST POINT, N.Y. — After winning the MPSF Championship, the No. 2 Oklahoma men’s gymnastics team heads to West Point, N.Y., in search of the program’s ninth national title. The 2010 NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championships will take place April 15-17 in the Holleder Center on the campus of the United States Military Academy.
The 2010 NCAA Championships will begin on Thursday, April 15 with two qualifying sessions at 1 and 7 p.m. (CDT). The Sooners will compete in the evening session with No. 3 Michigan, No. 6 California, No. 7 Minnesota, No. 10 Nebraska and No. 11 Iowa. The first session will showcase No. 1 Illinois, No. 4 Stanford, No. 5 Ohio State, No. 8 Penn State, No. 9 UIC and No. 12 Temple.
The top three teams from each session will earn berths in Friday night’s team and all-around Finals, scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.
Individual national champions will be determined at the event finals on Saturday night at 7 p.m.
In 2009, the Sooners tallied 361.200 points to finish third at the NCAA Championship in Minnesota. The 2009 team also finished with 11 All-America honors as Steven Legendre captured the national all-around crown and titles on floor and vault at the individual National Championships.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
A live webcast for the NCAA National Championship can be found on NCAA.com and live stats are available on
SoonerSports.com via the men’s gymnastics schedule page.
MPSF CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP
The No. 2 Oklahoma men’s gymnastics squad hit six straight pommel routines in the final rotation to edge Cal and clinch its 10th conference title in 12 years.
OU notched its 31st and 32nd individual conference titles under Mark Williams, as Steven Legendre (floor – 16.000) and Ian Jackson (vault – 16.200) won MPSF titles. It was Legendre’s 53rd title of his career, while Jackson posted his first win on vault since the 2008 season.
CHAMPIONSHIP TRADITION UNDER WILLIAMS
Since 2000, The University of Oklahoma men’s gymnastics program is the only collegiate men’s gymnastics program to finish in the top four every year at the NCAA Championships. Since their fourth-place finish in 2000, the Sooners have finished no lower than third in their quest for the national title.
CONSECUTIVE NATIONAL TITLES
Since the creation of collegiate men’s gymnastics (1953), only seven schools that still sponsor the sports have won consecutive national championships.
Oklahoma is the only men’s gymnastics program to have won two straight or more on three separate occasions.
Penn State and Nebraska are the only schools to win three or more straight titles. After winning back-to-back titles in 1953 and 1954, Penn State won three in a row from 1959 to 1961. Nebraska ran an impressive string of four straight titles from 1979-1982. OU’s eight national championships ties Nebraska for third all-time behind Penn State (12) and Illinois
(9).
30 INDIVIDUAL TITLES
Oklahoma is currently ranked fourth in the nation with 30 individual NCAA National Championships. Junior Steven Legendre sits with five individual titles and one away from tying Jonathan Horton (6), who owns the program lead.
LEGENDRE, DALTON AND NADDOUR ON TOP OF ALL-AROUND STANDINGS
Junior Steven Legendre is atop the current national all-around standings with a average score of 88.483, while freshman Jacob Dalton is right behind at number two with a score of 87.470.
Legendre has claimed eight all-around titles in his career, including the 2009 NCAA National All-Around title. Dalton has claimed three all-around titles in his young career, including back-to-back all-around wins at Rocky Mountain Open and at Iowa.
Freshman Alex Naddour rounds out the Sooner dominance with a top four ranking in the all-around (86.800). The Gilbert, Ariz., native is currently ranked four on pommel horse with an average score of 15.000.
SOONERS IN THE RANKINGS
Oklahoma currently has four of the top gymnasts in the top five on vault and three gymnasts in the top five on floor. Junior Steven Legendre is the leader on floor with a average score of 16.020.
The Sooners have at least two gymnasts ranked in the top 20 on each apparatus.
AN ALL-AROUND TEAM
This season, OU has been ranked in the top three in the nation on all six events while holding
the top spot on three events (floor, vault, parallel bars). Individually, the Sooners have the top-ranked gymnast on four events. (Floor: Legendre, Pommel Horse: Alex Naddour, Vault: Dalton, All-Around: Dalton)
Updated 04-14-2010
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