OU Gymnastics: Oklahoma Finishes Fourth at NCAA Championships
It just wasn’t Oklahoma’s day.
The Sooners couldn’t overcome the men’s gymnastics dynasty of Stanford, nor a handful of other powerhouses, and finished fourth in the NCAA Championships on Saturday in State College, PA.
Stanford ran away with its fourth straight national title with a score of 422.458. Michigan finished second at 419.889, Illinois was third at 415.590 and the Sooners slipped to fourth with a score of 414.024. Nebraska (412.427) and host Penn State (412.057) rounded out the field.
OU had finished runner-up to the Cardinal each of the previous three championships (2020 was cancelled). The Sooners under hall of fame coach Mark Williams haven’t won it all since 2018, which was their fourth straight title and 12th overall. OU has also finished second 13 times.
The Sooners started Saturday on the floor exercise, with Brigham Fretheway scoring 14.900, Jack Freeman 13.866, Vitaliy Guimaraes 13.833 and Spencer Goodell 14.333. Emre Dodanli then knocked down a 14.733.
Dodanli’s routine gave OU a 70.655 team total and a tenuous grip on second place behind No. 1-ranked Stanford (73.999) and ahead of Nebraska (69.833) heading into their second event.
On pommel horse, Mac Seyler posted 12.966, Braden Collier landed a 12.733, Guimaraes went 13.166, Zach Nunez twirled a 14.333, and Ignacio Yockers landed a 14.266.
OU’s team total of 67.464 dropped the Sooners (138.129) to third behind Stanford (144.797) and Illinois (140.598) and just ahead of the Huskers (137.131).
On still rings, Morgan Seyler scored 13.533, Dan Simmons tied his career-high with a 13.700 and Guimaraes landed a 13.000. Alan Camillus followed with a 13.7000 and Goodell anchored with a strong 14.033, his second-highest rings score of the season.
That team score of 67.966 dropped the Sooners again in the team standings to 206.095, well behind Stanford (213.096) and still back of Illinois (209.896), Michigan (208.927) and Nebraska (207.829) — but still ahead of Penn State (201.495) at the midway point of the meet.
Vault was next for the Sooners, and Guimaraes opened with a 14.166. Nunez landed a 14.400, and Simmons followed that up with a powerful 14.533. Dodanli and Goodell then finished strong with respective scores of 14.566 and 14.466, giving the Sooners all five gymnasts over 14 for the only time on the day and was the team’s second-best vault score of the season.
That event score of 72.131 lifted OU (278.226) back into third place behind Stanford (284.061) and Michigan (279.925).
On parallel bars, Nunez opened with a 14.133. Guimaraes followed with a 13.300, Camillus posted a season-best 13.900, and Dodanli picked it up with a 14.333. Goodell then wrapped up the rotation with a 12.866.
OU’s team total of 68.532 on bars kept the Sooners (346.758) in third place behind Stanford (351.427) and Michigan (349.090) — virtually eliminating them from championship contention at 4.669 points out of first.
Oklahoma then finished the day on high bar, where Nunez scored a 13.300, Morgan Seyler went 13.266 and Dodanli and Kelton Christiansen each posted 13.400. Freeman finished things up when he landed a 13.900.
OU’s 67.266 on the high bar was its lowest event total of the day dropped the Sooners in the team standings.