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Jan. 24, 2012

NORMAN, Okla. – University of Oklahoma women’s gymnasts Taylor Spears and Sara Stone earned Big 12 weekly honors for the week of Jan. 24, announced by the conference Tuesday.  Spears was named Gymnast of the Week, while Stone was named Event Specialist of the Week.

Spears and Stone helped lead the Sooners to the highest road score in the NCAA this season last Saturday.  OU posted a 197.450 at TWU’s quad meet in Denton, Texas.  OU is the only team in the country to break the 197-mark on the road.

Spears won the award after claiming the all-around title at the TWU quad meet Saturday, Jan. 21, in just her first collegiate all-around appearance.  The sophomore won the all-around title Saturday with a career-high 39.200 and moved up to No. 18 nationally in the all-around and No. 8 on floor with her performance.

At TWU, Spears posted a career-high 9.9 on vault to finish in second place on the event, tied her career-high on floor with a 9.875 to finish in third place on the apparatus, scored a 9.8 on bars and a 9.625 on beam.

Beauty and the Beast Central | Highlights from TWU

Spears is the first OU gymnast to compete in the all-around this season and Saturday marked just the fourth time a Sooner gymnast has competed in the all-around in the last three years.

This is Spears’ second consecutive conference award.  The sophomore was named Big 12 Event Specialist of the Week on Jan. 17. This is Spears’ fifth career Big 12 weekly award, Spears was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week three times in 2011 in addition to her two awards this season.

Stone is the third straight OU gymnast to be named Event Specialist of the Week this season.  The senior earned the honor after setting two career-highs and winning the vault title at TWU Saturday.

Stone posted a season-high 9.925 on vault to win the event title while scoring a career-high 9.925 on floor to finish in second and a career-high 9.85 on beam to finish second on the event.

Stone has scored a 9.9 or higher in three of her nine routines this season and has won two of the three individual vault titles this season.

The award is Stone’s third career Big 12 weekly award.  Stone was named Big 12 Event Specialist of the Week once in both 2011 and 2010.

Spears, Stone and the rest of the Sooners host their home opener Friday for OU’s fifth-annual Beauty and the Beast competition featuring the Sooners gymnasts and wrestlers competing side-by-side.  Women’s gymnastics faces No. 20 N.C. State while No. 12 wrestling hosts No. 17 Virginia Tech at 7 p.m., at the Lloyd Noble Center.

The first 1,000 fans will receive a free commemorative Beauty and the Beast poster.