Men's Gymnastics squad looks for 14th-straight Rocky Mountain Open title.
Jan. 11, 2013
ROCKY MOUNTAIN OPEN
The No. 3 University of Oklahoma men's gymnastics team opens the 2013 season
in Colorado Springs, Colo., at the Rocky Mountain Open Saturday at 7 p.m. CT.
The Sooners will face No. 9 Nebraska and No. 11 Air Force in addition to club
teams from Arizona State and Washington.
ON THE WEB
Fans can find a free live webcast of Saturday's meet via GoAirForceFalcons.com.
Live results, updates and photos from Colorado Springs will be available at
on Twitter at @SoonerGymnasts
and at Facebook.com/SoonerGymnasts,
the official Facebook page of OU Men's Gymnastics.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN DOMINANCE
The Sooners enter the 2013 Rocky Mountain Open with a flawless record
in the annual season opener, winning the event the past 13 straight years.
Oklahoma holds the individual high scores on each event at the Rocky Mountain
Open since 2008, when the new scoring was put in place. (Floor: Jake Dalton,
15.700; Pommel Horse: Alex Naddour, 15.200; Rings: Chris Stehl, 15.700; Vault:
Steven Legendre 16.400; Parallel Bars: Dalton, 15.100; High Bar: Dalton, 14.800
All Around: Legendre, 89.400)
Since 2000, Oklahoma has won at least two individual event titles in each competition
at the Rocky Mountain Open and has swept the individual titles five times (2001,
2006, 2008, 2009, and 2012).
2012 ROCKY MOUNTAIN OPEN RECAP
Oklahoma posted a team score of 343.700, edging out second-place Air Force (333.300)
by 10.400 points to win the 2012 Rocky Mountain Open. Nebraska took third place
with a 331.300 followed by club teams from Arizona State (314.100) and Washington
(248.100).
As a team, Oklahoma claimed the top score on floor, pommel horse, rings, vault
and high bar.
Individually, four Sooners took home a combined six event titles: Chris Stehl
(rings, parallel bars), Patrick Piscitelli (floor, vault), Dalton (high bar)
and Michael Reid (pommel horse). Stehl's 15.700 on rings was a record high at
the Rocky Mountain Open. Stehl, the only Sooner to compete in all-around, collected
an 83.000 to take first place. In the past 13 seasons, all of the Rocky Mountain
Open all-around champions have been Sooner gymnasts.
2012 ROCKY MOUNTAIN OPEN TEAM RESULTS
1. Oklahoma - 343.700
2. Air Force - 333.300
3. Nebraska - 331.300
4. Arizona State - 314.100
5. Washington - 248.100
2011 INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONS
Floor Exercise: Patrick Piscitelli, Oklahoma
Pommel Horse: Michael Reid, Oklahoma
Still Rings: Chris Stehl, Oklahoma
Vault: Patrick Piscitelli, Oklahoma
Parallel Bars: Chris Stehl, Oklahoma
High Bar: Jake Dalton, Oklahoma
All-Around: Chris Stehl, Oklahoma
2012 TEAM CAPTAINS
Head coach Mark Williams has announced that junior Presten Ellsworth
and sophomore Dylan Akers have been selected as Oklahoma's captains for the
2013 season.
From Allen, Texas, Ellsworth was a 2012 All-American on vault after taking third-place
at the NCAA Championship event finals with a season-best 15.200.
Akers, a Kingwood, Texas, native, finished 12th in the all-around finals of
the 2012 NCAA Championship and third among freshman. He finished ninth on floor
exercise, just .05 points shy of All-America honors.
FOLLOW THE SOONERS
The Sooners head to Palo Alto, Calif., for the Stanford Open on Saturday Jan.
19 at 5 p.m. CT. No. 3 Oklahoma will face No. 5 Stanford and No. 6 California.
All three teams finished in the top five last season. The Sooners as the national
runner-up, followed by the Golden Bears in fourth and the Cardinal in fifth.
OU posted a perfect record against their two conference opponents in 2012, going
8-0 in five meets.
