OU Gymnastics Sets Nation-Best Score

On a night full of celebrations, the No. 1 Oklahoma men's gymnastics team put on its own show for Sooner Nation, recording a huge score of 447.700 to defeat No. 5 Stanford's score of 437.250 on Saturday at McCasland Field House.

The Sooners' 447.700 is the highest score of any team in the country this year by more than three points. Since the NCAA altered its scoring system last season, OU's mark is the second-highest ever, just behind Penn State's 447.850 in 2013.

"Sometimes when you get on a roll the gymnastics gets a lot easier," said OU head coach Mark Williams. "The first four events we were really rolling right along. I was hoping high bar would finish a little better, but we still maintained a high hit percentage and finished out the meet pretty well. I'm pretty happy overall."

It all came on a night when Oklahoma honored its returning alumni in addition to hosting children and their families from Cleveland Elementary, a school at which the Sooners regularly volunteer.

Oklahoma opened the meet on floor exercise where the Sooners set a mark of 75.550, the highest of any team in the nation this season. Sophomore Kanji Oyama and junior Alec Robin tied for the team high with a score of 15.450 as all six Sooners scored 15.000 or better.

The momentum rolled on from floor to pommel horse where the Sooners racked up career highs throughout. Junior Michael Reid led the team with a career best of 15.500. Juniors Sergey Resnick and Robin both scored 15.100, marking a career high for Robin, and freshman Allan Bower set a new best mark of 14.700. Oklahoma ended the rotation with a 74.700 team score.

The Sooners' rotation on the still rings was accented by a huge 16.150 from junior Michael Squires, a career best and the highest score by anyone in the country this year. Ethan Jose (14.850), Danny Beradini (15.050) and Presten Ellsworth (15.000) also reached career highs on the rings, helping OU to another nation-best score, this one a 75.600.

Oyama highlighted Oklahoma's vault rotation, stopping on a dime for a stuck dismount and setting another career high with a score of 15.450. He was followed by freshman Colin Van Wicklen at 15.050 and Bower with a 15.000. Oklahoma racked up 74.900 as a team on the event.

Resnick scored a team-high 15.000 on parallel bars, leading the Sooners to a total score of 73.600. He was followed by junior Danny Berardini and Bower, who both received marks of 14.850.

Oklahoma finished out with a total score of 72.350 on the high bar. Van Wicklen led all gymnasts on the night with a 14.800. Junior William Clement (14.750) and senior Stanton Rehkemper (14.550) also scored well for the Sooners, who boasted the top four scores of the night on the event.

Oklahoma is back in action on Feb. 14 when it competes at the Metroplex Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas.