April 17, 2008

STANFORD, Calif. - Second-ranked Oklahoma took care of business in Thursday's NCAA Championships Qualifier on the campus of Stanford University.  The Sooners won the first qualifying session with a team score of 357.500 to advance to Friday night's Team Finals.  Also advancing from session one were No. 3 Penn State (357.300) and No. 6 Michigan (354.300).

"We had our bright spots and our low spots," said senior co-captain Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons.  "But we did what we needed to do which was qualify for the next day.  That was our main focus.  Now we just have to make sure our heads are in the game the entire day tomorrow."

Starting the meet on vault, where they are ranked first in the nation, the Sooners recorded a team score of 63.550 led by Steven Legendre's 16.200.  Russell Czeschin added a 15.950, his second-highest score of the season, while Bobby Shortle contributed a 15.800.  Rounding out OU's team score was Reed Pitts' 15.600.  Legendre, Czeschin and Shortle finished second, third and fourth, respectively.

Jacob Messina and Chris Brooks earned matching scores of 14.500 on the parallel bars, and Legendre added a 14.650.  Newly crowned Nissen-Emery Award winner Jonathan Horton finished first on the event with a 15.350 from the anchor position as the Sooners posted a 58.900 and took a 122.450-120.650 lead over No. 10 Nebraska after two rotations.

Post-meet press conference | Session I results | NCAA Championship Central

Despite an uneven performance on the high bar, Oklahoma maintained its lead after the third event.  The Sooners scored a 56.750 on the h-bar, led by Brooks' third-place 14.600.  Jason Laughton added a 14.400, while Abdullah-Simmons chipped in a 13.800.  Kyle McNamara completed OU's event score with a season-high 13.950.

The Sooners rebounded on the floor exercise, recording a team total of 61.500.  Legendre broke his own school record with a 15.950 on the event to earn top honors, and Oklahoma did not count a score lower than 15.000.  Czeschin tied his season high with a 15.450, good for third place, while Pitts and Shortle added scores of 15.100 and 15.000, respectively.

After a bye rotation, Oklahoma (240.700) advanced to the pommel horse in second place behind Nebraska (288.250).  Abdullah-Simmons led the charge with a 14.050, his second-highest score or the season as OU posted a 55.650.  Laughton scored a 13.950, while Horton's 13.850 and Corey English's 13.800 rounded out the Sooners' team score.

The top three teams from both of Thursday's qualifying sessions will meet Friday night to decide the 2008 NCAA title.

"The emotional level tomorrow night will be significantly higher," said OU head coach Mark Williams.  "It's not about not making mistakes, but about having your best performance and there's a big difference in the approach.  I think we were a little too careful on some things today and tomorrow we're just going to let it all out."

The team finals are scheduled for a 9 p.m. (CT) start from Maples Pavilion and will be Web cast live as part of NCAA Championship Central on GoStanford.com.