University of Oklahoma photo by Morgan Givens
NORMAN – Oklahoma men’s gymnastics senior Emre Dodanli was named the MPSF Specialist of the Week after his performance in leading the Sooners to wins over William & Mary and Greenville, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation announced Tuesday.
Dodanli won the floor exercise and horizontal bar titles and registered a three-event total of 43.250 to lead Oklahoma to a 325.250 team total and wins over William & Mary (311.550) and Greenville (298.750) Saturday in Williamsburg, Va. He scored 14.350 or better and hit season-high marks on all three of his events. He stuck his high bar dismount for a career- and team-season-high 14.500, notched a team season-high 14.400 on floor exercise and tied his season-best with his 14.350 on vault (placed second to teammate Fuzzy Benas at the meet). Dodanli’s high bar score is the second highest recorded nationally this season, and his floor exercise score ranks as the third highest recorded in the country this season.
A Milton, Ontario, product and finalist for the Nissen-Emery Award, Dodanli is the only athlete in the country to be ranked in the top 5 nationally on three events. He ranks first on high bar (14.033), third on vault (14.283) and fourth on floor exercise (14.000).
This is Dodanli’s first MPSF award of the season, the fourth of his career and his third career Specialist of the Week honor (he has also been named Gymnast of the Week once).
OU has won 11 MPSF weekly awards this season: senior Brigham Frentheway was named Gymnast of the Week on Jan. 14 and Feb. 19, senior Matthew Burgoyne was named Gymnast of the Week on March 4, redshirt freshman Arthur Ballon was named Freshman of the Week twice (Jan. 14 and Jan. 29), freshman Francisco Velez Belendez was named Freshman of the Week three times (Jan. 21, Feb. 19 and March 4) and junior Ignacio Yockers was named Specialist of the Week (Jan. 14) and Gymnast of the Week (Feb. 4).
The Sooners next compete on Saturday April 5 at the MPSF Championship in Colorado Springs, Colo., hosted by the Air Force Academy.
For updates and more information on Oklahoma men’s gymnastics, follow the Sooners on Twitter and Instagram (@OU_MGymnastics) and like Oklahoma Men’s Gymnastics on Facebook.
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