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Oklahoma Finishes National Runner-Up

Stanford runs away with the team national championship, but the Sooners held off Michigan by the narrowest of margins for second place.

John E. Hoover

Oklahoma’s bid for a national championship in men’s gymnastics fell short Saturday, swamped under a scoring tsunami by Stanford.

But coach Mark Williams said this second-place finish felt like a win.

Oklahoma missed what would have been a record 13th national championship, but the Sooners still made history. It's OU's third straight runner-up finish, and the Sooners have taken either first or second in 18 of the last 20 national championship events.

Raydel Gamboa
Raydel Gamboa / Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

Behind Stanford’s dominating triumph inside Lloyd Nobel Center — the Cardinal posted a team score of 423.628, more than nine points ahead — Williams’ squad outdistanced third-place Michigan by the narrowest of margins, 414.555 to 414.490.

By 65-hundredths of a point — and just a few hours after the OU women’s team won its fifth national championship — the Sooners finished national runner-up. Nebraska finished a distant fourth with 406.453.

Individually, Michigan’s Paul Juda edged out Stanford’s Brady Malone for the all-around title. OU athletes got the next three spots, however, led by third-place Raydel Gamboa, Vitaliy Guimaraes in fourth and Fuzzy Benas in fifth.

On the first rotation, the Sooners opened on pommel horse, and Zach Nunez recorded a team-high 13.833, followed by Guimaraes’ 13.766.

OU went to still rings for the second rotation, led by Alan Camillus’ 13.833 and Benas’ 13.600. That left the Sooners back in fifth place heading into the third rotation.

On vault, Emre Dodanli landed a career-best 14.733, and Benas stuck a 14.333, pushing OU into third place at the turn.

The climb continued on parallel bars as Guimaraes scored 13.866 and Benas 13.700. After Gamboa spun a career-high 14.066, OU inched closer to second heading into the fifth rotation.

On high bar, Gamboa landed a 14.000 and Cesar Gracia scored a career-best 14.033. Benas and Jack Freeman then dropped back-to-back 14.200 to push OU ahead of Michigan — but still well back of Stanford.

On the final rotation of floor exercise, Dodanli scored a 14.466. Freeman followed with a season-best 14.266, and Guimaraes closed strong with a 14.600, narrowly locking up second place for the Sooners.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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