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July 1, 2010

NORMAN, Okla. -- Three Sooner gymnasts, Chris Brooks, Jonathan Horton, and Alex Naddour will comprise the five-man U.S. squad that will compete in the 2010 Japan Cup, July 3-4, at the Tokyo (Japan) Metropolitan Gymnasium, site of the 2011 World Gymnastics Championships.

“This is the big meet of the year besides the World Championships,” said OU head coach Mark Williams. “Having three members of the OU program at the competition is a tremendous accomplishment.”

Naddour, the lone current Sooner and 2010 NCAA pommel horse champion, will be joined by Brooks, a four- time at OU (2006-2009) and 2010 Winter Cup Champion, and Horton, a four-time letterwinner at OU (2005-2008) and 2008 Olympic high bar silver-medalist and reigning U.S. all-around champion.

“They will be competing against the best programs in the world,” added Williams “It will be a huge test and a good precursor to the World Championships (Oct. 16-24), as we look to have a good OU presence on that team as well.”

In the team competition, three gymnasts compete on each apparatus and all three scores count toward the team score, just like in the finals of the World Championships and Olympic Games. Based on performances during the team competition, the top 12 gymnasts, with a maximum of two per country, advance to the all-around finals on July 4.

The United States will join an eight team field that includes men’s powerhouses China, Russia, Germany, and Japan in the team competition on July 3. Tom Meadows and Yuan Xiao will coach the U.S. team.

The OU men’s gymnastics team has not been without success this off-season sending two other gymnasts around the world to compete for the U.S. Senior National Team. During the summer break, OU sophomore Jacob Dalton, senior Steven Legendre and sophomore Alex Naddour placed in the top three on one or more apparatuses at their prospective events around the world.

Oklahoma has five gymnasts on the U.S. National Team with Legendre, Naddour, Dalton and former OU gymnasts Jonathan Horton and Chris Brooks on the squad.

No other NCAA Division I men's gymnastics program has more members on Senior National Team than Oklahoma. This is most National Team members that the Sooners have ever had, beating the previous total in 1994 (4).