-JT

* ESPN on up-tempo offenses, including the Sooners.

* TCU fans get ready for OU, preview the Sooners. (And remember the 2004 debacle).

* ESPN on Jon Horton.

*  Big 12 sports reports on OU.

Horton is the sixth Sooner to garner collegiate gymnastics’ top honor. OU’s six honorees lead the nation, with Horton’s award breaking a tie between Oklahoma and Penn State for the top spot. Previous Nissen winners from OU include Daniel Furney (2003), Todd Bishop (1999), Dan Fink (1998), Jarrod Hanks (1991) and Bart Conner (1981).

“Winning the Nissen-Emery Award is a great honor,” Horton said. “My teammates and coaches have really pushed me to be my best and I wouldn’t be where I am without their help.”

A three-time team captain during his Sooner career, Horton will likely go down as the most decorated gymnast in OU program history. The 2006 NCAA all-around champion, Horton already owns Oklahoma records for career All-America honors (15) and career NCAA individual titles (five). Both marks were previously held by two-time Olympic gold-medalist Bart Conner.

In his four years in Norman, Horton helped lead the Sooners to back-to-back national championships in 2005 and 2006, as well as a second-place finish last season.

The Houston, Texas, native is also the three-time defending Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Gymnast of the Year and owns 10 career individual conference crowns, including all-around wins in 2005, 2007 and 2008.

A member of the past two U.S. World Championships Teams, Horton’s performance at the 2007 Worlds in Stuttgart, Germany, helped the American squad to a fourth-place team finish and secured a berth in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Horton finished fourth in the all-around standings, just 0.2 points shy of earning a bronze medal. He became just the fourth American men’s gymnast to record a top-four all-around finish at the World Championships and the first since 2004 Olympic gold-medalist Paul Hamm took the title in 2003. Only Hamm and Kurt Thomas (2nd, 1979) have finished higher.

In claiming the award, Horton beat out six other finalists including Stanford’s David Sender, Cal’s Tim McNeill, Illinois’ Wes Haagensen, Ohio State’s D.J. Bucher, Penn State’s Derek Helsby, and Luke Vexler of Temple.

“Receiving this honor, especially when there were so many other great gymnasts nominated is a great feeling,” Horton said. “The ultimate goal, though, is for our team to win a national championship.”

Horton and the second-ranked Sooners begin NCAA Championship competition Thursday in the first of two qualifying sessions. The top three teams from each qualifying session will advance to Friday’s Team Finals. Joining OU in the first qualifying session are No. 3 Penn State, No. 6 Michigan, No. 7 Ohio State, No. 10 Nebraska and No. 13 William & Mary. Oklahoma will be looking to win the program’s eighth national title and fifth in the last seven years.

This week’s award comes on the heels of Horton’s brilliant Senior Night performance on March 15, as the Sooners posted the NCAA’s highest score of the season (364.600) in defeating No. 8 Minnesota at the Howard McCasland Field House in Norman.

Horton posted a season-high all-around score (92.450) to run away with his second all-around title of the year, while claiming individual event crowns on rings (16.050), parallel bars (15.650) and high bar (15.300). His scores on the floor exercise (15.700), rings and p-bars marked personal bests.

The team co-captain also finished second on floor and third on vault (16.150) as Oklahoma set program records on both events against the Golden Gophers.

Oklahoma gymnasts have now earned Gymnast of the Week honors five times in 10 weeks in 2008. In addition to Horton’s three honors, freshman Steven Legendre earned conference recognition on Jan. 15 and Jan. 28 after all-around wins at the Rocky Mountain Open and against Nebraska and Air Force.

Last season, four different OU gymnasts accounted for a total of six MPSF weekly honors.

2008 MPSF Gymnasts of the WeekJan. 15 – Steven Legendre, Oklahoma
Jan. 21 – Kyson Bunthuwong, Cal
Jan. 28 – Steven Legendre, Oklahoma
Feb. 4 – Greg Stine, Air Force
Feb. 11 – Jonathan Horton, Oklahoma
Feb. 18 – Kyle Bunthuwong, Cal
Feb. 25 – Jonathan Horton, Oklahoma
March 3 – Ryan Lieberman, Stanford
March 10 – Tim McNeill, Cal
March 17 – Jonathan Horton, Oklahoma

A three-time team captain during his Sooner career, Horton will likely go down as the most decorated gymnast in OU program history. The 2006 NCAA all-around champion, Horton owns Oklahoma records for career All-America honors (15) and career NCAA individual titles (five). Both marks were previously held by two-time Olympic gold-medalist Bart Conner.

In his four years in Norman, Horton helped lead the Sooners to back-to-back national championships in 2005 and 2006, as well as a second-place finish last season.

The Houston, Texas, native is also the two-time defending Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Gymnast of the Year and owns eight career individual conference crowns, including all-around wins in 2005 and 2007.

A member of the past two U.S. World Championships Teams, Horton’s performance at the 2007 Worlds in Stuttgart, Germany, helped the American squad to a fourth-place team finish and secured a berth in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Horton finished fourth in the all-around standings, just 0.2 points shy of earning a bronze medal. He became just the fourth American men’s gymnast to record a top-four all-around finish at the World Championships and the first since 2004 Olympic gold-medalist Paul Hamm took the title in 2003. Only Hamm and Kurt Thomas (2nd, 1979) have finished higher.

Oklahoma and Penn State lead the nation with five Nissen-Emery winners apiece. The last Sooner to claim the prestigious award was current assistant coach Daniel Furney, the 2003 NCAA all-around and parallel bars champion.

Established in 1966, the Nissen-Emery Award honors the collegiate senior gymnast who has established an outstanding record of achievement in gymnastics, good sportsmanship, fair play, and scholarship throughout his collegiate career.

In addition to Horton, the other 2008 award finalists include D.J. Bucher (Ohio State), Wes Haagensen (Illinois), Derek Helsby (Penn State), Tim McNeill (California), David Sender (Stanford) and Luke Vexler (Temple).

No. 3 Oklahoma wraps up its 2008 home schedule on Saturday, March 15, against No. 8 Minnesota at 7 p.m. inside the Howard McCasland Field House in Norman. The meet will mark Senior Night for Horton, as well as 2007 NCAA all-around champion Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons.

Oklahoma enters this year’s Pacific Coast Classic as the two-time defending team champion, while senior co-captain Jonathan Horton boasts consecutive PCC all-around titles. The Sooners won last year’s event with a score of 218.450, besting Stanford’s 216.650 and avenging an early season loss to then-No. 1 Michigan, while the 2006 squad claimed victory with a 217.300 total. Horton is also the two-time defending PCC rings champion, and claimed the floor title at last season’s meet.

This year’s OU squad heads to Oakland with an undefeated 7-0 record that includes victories over Pacific Coast opponents Michigan and Iowa. This weekend’s meet will be the Sooners’ first look at Mountain Pacific Sports Federation rivals No. 1 Stanford and No. 4 California. The Sooners will not see the Cardinal and Golden Bears again until the MPSF Championships, April 5 in Lincoln, Neb.

“This meet gives us a great opportunity to meet some of the West Coast teams we haven’t seen yet this year,” OU head coach Mark Williams said. “It also helps that the meet format is very similar to the conference and NCAA championships. We’ve had pretty good success there in the past and we’re hoping to continue to improve on what we’ve done so far this season.”

Fans can access live scores from the meet at SoonerSports.com, as well as on the official site of USA Sports Management and the Pacific Coast Classic, usa-sports.org.

The goal of the USA Sports Management Group is to provide direct assistance in preserving men’s collegiate gymnastics programs and increase scholarship and training opportunities in the United States.

In 1969 approximately 230 collegiate gymnastics programs existed. Today only 19 NCAA programs remain in the U.S. Proceeds from the Pacific Coast Classic benefit two organizations that significantly impact the future of men’s gymnastics in the United States: Men’s Intercollegiate Gymnastics Support Program (MIGSP) and the National Gymnastics Foundation Men’s Scholarship Program.

Saturday’s event marks the return to NCAA competition for Oklahoma, after five members of the squad competed in the 2008 Winter Cup Challenge, a USA Gymnastics re-ranking event, Feb. 7-9 in Las Vegas, Nev.

Oklahoma’s last collegiate competition was a record-breaking one. The Sooners defeated MPSF rival Nebraska in Norman on Feb. 1, posting a season-high team score of 355.500. OU also set season marks on floor (60.250), pommel horse (55.850), rings (60.800) and vault (63.200), while nine Sooners recorded individual bests.

The matchup with Iowa should provide OU head coach Mark Williams the chance to better gauge what his lineup will be as the postseason approaches. Among the additions to the OU arsenal, senior co-captain Jonathan Horton will likely compete on the floor exercise and vault for the first time this season. Horton is the reigning NCAA floor champion and was earned All-America honors on both events in 2007. A strong candidate for a spot on the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team, Horton has been gradually increasing his competitive work load following a busy summer and fall on the international gymnastics scene.

Even without Horton, Oklahoma has boasted two of the best floor and vault lineups in the country. The Sooners are second on vault and fourth on the floor in the Feb. 11 GymInfo rankings. Several of OU’s underclassmen have led the way through the first four meets of the season. Freshman Steven Legendre, a two-time MPSF Gymnast of the Week honoree already this season, ranks fourth in the country on floor with an average score of 15.212. Sophomore Ian Jackson, who claimed the all-around title in the Sooners’ Feb. 1 win over Nebraska, is tied for fourth in the nation on vault, averaging a score of 15.875.

The Hawkeyes are 4-9 all-time against the Sooners. In last year’s matchup between the teams, OU swept all six events en route to a 220.500-209.800 victory in Norman on March 17.

Iowa is led by head coach Tom Dunn, in his 29th year with the Hawkeye program. Senior Jacob Becker and junior Geoff Reins, both 2007 All-Americans, anchor an Iowa squad that finished ninth at the 2007 NCAA Championships.

Live scores from Saturday’s meet will be available at HawkeyeSports.com, and will be linked on SoonerSports.com as well.

The squad will share the floor with the OU women’s gymnastics team who will simultaneously compete against Big 12 rival Iowa State in the dual-team event.

OU wrestlers (12-5, 0-4 in Big 12) are coming off a tough 21-9 defeat in Lincoln last Sunday against No. 2 Nebraska. All was not lost versus the Huskers, as freshman Joey Fio uspet No. 4 ranked and defending national champion Paul Donahoe. Fio was awarded Big 12 Wrestler of the Week, his first career conference award and the first freshman to receive the honor this season.

“Despite losses, I think our team can use last weekend’s duals as building blocks for the rest of the season,” head coach Jack Spates said. “I was pleased with our fight and aggressiveness versus Nebraska. Our team needs to step up this Friday and get a victory.”

This is the 34th meeting between the two schools, with OU leading the all-time series by a 28-3-2 margin. Last season, Oklahoma prevailed on Dec. 9, 2006, by a 31-7 final in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Only two current Sooners (Will Rowe and Joshua Weitzel) recorded individual wins in the victory versus the Mustangs.

Oklahoma has six nationally ranked wrestlers heading into the Friday showdown, including No. 17 Joey Fio at 125 pounds, his first career national ranking. Zack Bailey and Chad Terry are ranked No. 16 at 141 and 157 pounds respectively, and Will Rowe is No. 17 at 149 pounds. Seniors Joshua Weitzel (No. 6) and Joel Flaggert (No. 9) remain in the Top 10 at 184 and 197 pounds.

Cal Poly is headed by No. 1 ranked and undefeated Chad Mendes at 141 pounds (21-0), along with Chase Pami who is No. 14 at 157 pounds.

“This is going to be a great event for Oklahoma fans,” Spates said. “We encourage all Sooners to come out and support these two premiere programs in their respective sports.”

The first 500 fans arriving Friday will receive an event T-shirt, and raffle prizes will be awarded throughout the evening.

Both teams will also take part in an autograph session at the conclusion of the event. Tickets are $5 for children and $7 for adults. Admission is free for OU students with a valid student I.D.

The match versus the Mustangs is the final non-conference dual for the Sooners this season. Oklahoma will resume Big 12 conference competition when it hosts arch-rival Oklahoma State next Thursday, Feb. 21, at the Howard McCasland Field House at 7 p.m.

It marked the fourth consecutive week that an OU gymnast has won conference gymnast of the week honors and the second time this season Oklahoma has swept the weekly awards.

Redmond-Sturms won her fifth all-around title in six meets against No. 13 Denver, Utah State and Air Force. The senior All-American also took home event titles on bars (9.875) and floor (9.9).

Winner of three Big 12 Gymnast of the Week honors already this season, Redmond-Sturms has netted 22 individual titles through six events. She is currently ranked No. 2 in the country on floor (9.925 average), No. 12 on bars (9.862 average), No. 14 in the all-around (39.254) and No. 17 on vault (9.867). In addition, her season averages on floor, bars, vault and the all-around rank in the top-three in the South Central Region.

Mantle, a sophomore, won the first event title of her career after she posted a 9.9 on vault in Denver, Colo., on Saturday, garnering her first Big 12 conference award. The stuck routine was witnessed by 2,195 fans inside Hamilton Gymnasium, including many that were rooting on the Bellvue, Colo., native, after making the short drive to Denver. Mantle was making her first appearance in a collegiate competition in her home state.

Oklahoma returns to the friendly confines of the Lloyd Noble Center on Feb. 15 when it hosts Iowa State at 7 p.m., in the squad’s second home meet of the year. Billed as Beauty and the Beast night, the meet also features the OU wrestling squad which battles Cal-Poly simultaneous to the gymnastics action.

One lucky fan will win two (2) round-trip tickets to Las Vegas, two (2) tickets to “Le Reve” at the Wynn Theater in Las Vegas, and a $300 check card.

Tickets will be available Friday night in the East lobby of the LNC of by calling the OU Ticket Office at 325-2424, or toll free at (800) 456-GoOU. General admission tickets are $7 and $5 for youth. Admission to the event is free to OU students with a student ID.

The Winter Cup serves as a re-ranking event for USA Gymnastics and helps determine spots on the U.S. Senior National Team.

Horton becomes the second Sooner to earn the conference’s weekly award this season. Freshman Steven Legendre earned Gymnast of the Week honors on Jan. 15 and Jan. 28.

With his spot on the U.S. Senior National Team already secured as a member of the 2007 U.S. World Championships Team, Horton still produced a strong showing at the 2008 Winter Cup Challenge, despite competing on just four events.

Horton placed third on the rings with a two-day total of 31.150 and was the top collegiate finisher on the parallel bars with a final score of 30.150, placing him seventh.

The OU senior also tied for 14th on high bar with a 27.900 total and was 28th on the pommel horse (25.350).

Horton and the fourth-ranked Sooners return to NCAA competition this weekend as they travel to Iowa City, Iowa, to take on the 10th-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes on Feb. 16. The top-10 matchup is scheduled for a 7 p.m. (CST) start at the Field House on the Iowa campus.