OU Athletics
NORMAN – Senior Ignacio Yockers earned two event titles as the No. 1 Oklahoma men’s gymnastics team swept all six event titles on its way to a team total of 331.600 – the highest score in the nation this season – in a Senior Night win over No. 8 California (315.700) Saturday evening at McCasland Field House.
The Sooners eclipsed their previous nation-leading score of 331.300, set last week vs. No. 3 Nebraska, by three-tenths of a point.
Yockers won the pommel horse title with a 14.050 and the parallel bars title with a stuck 13.850. Junior Nico Hamilton won the floor exercise title for the second straight week with a 14.050.
Sophomore Francisco Velez Belendez won his third straight still rings title with a career-high 14.400, and junior Tyler Flores stuck a 14.500 to earn his second vault title of the season. Senior Kelton Christiansen ended the night with a stuck 14.150 on high bar to win the event title for the second straight week.
“I wasn’t really expecting it to be a big night,” Oklahoma head coach Mark Williams said. “We wanted to allow all of our seniors to have opportunities to compete, but the guys got on a roll and looked really good. High score for us on rings and we finished really well on high bar. One more meet before we get into the postseason and I hope we take that momentum into the postseason and have a chance to win some championships.”
OU swept all six team events, posting a 54.700 on floor exercise, 56.000 on pommel horse, 56.000 on still rings, 56.350 on vault, 53.800 on parallel bars and 54.750 on high bar. Oklahoma’s score on rings was a team high this season.
The Sooners posted the three highest scores on floor, with redshirt-senior Brigham Frentheway placing second with a season-high 13.950 and redshirt junior Leo Koike taking third with a season-high 13.850. OU also took the top four scores on pommel horse, with Flores and redshirt junior Mac Seyler tying for second (14.000) and senior Kelton Christiansen setting a new career high (13.950) for fourth.
Read more and see additional information such as team scores and highlights HERE.
Get Local News!
