March 31, 2007
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BERKELEY - No. 3 Oklahoma won the 2007 MPSF Championship, Saturday night, at Haas Pavilion. The Sooners took first with a score of 217.950. No. 4 Stanford came in second with a final score of 216.100. No. 8 California was next in third (215.000), followed by No. 10 Nebraska (203.450) and No. 16 Air Force (189.050). With the victory, Oklahoma receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.
Oklahoma also claimed the individual all-around championship as Jonathan Horton beat teammate Taquiy Abdullah-Simmons for top honors. Horton finished with a final score of 55.500.
"We didn't do a very good job on pommel horse," Oklahoma head coach Mark Williams said. "With the injury to Brian Carr's wrist - that's a score that we've usually counted on. Luckily the rings team was willing to step up. We got right back into it on the last event and were able to pull it out. For us to come out with the conference championship - even having those struggles - I'm pretty happy with that."
Cal (9-7) was victorious in one of the six events, as it claimed victory on parallel bars with a score of 36.400. Tim McNeill's 9.350 topped all other gymnasts on parallel bars. Colin Christ's 9.250 was good enough for third out of all gymnasts.
The Bears scored their highest event score on still rings. They notched a 37.900 on the apparatus, as Cal took second on that event. Still rings was one of three events that the Bears finished in second. McNeill and Tyler Block tied for third out of all gymnasts with a 9.650. They were two of four Bears to score over a 9.0 in the event. Kyle Brady scored a 9.450 and Caleb Kirk recorded a 9.150.
Unfortunately for Cal, it lost a lot of momentum when Block went down with an injury on vault. He didn't return to the meet after getting injured.
"It took the wind out of our sails a little bit," Cal head coach Barry Weiner said. "Other than that, I thought they tried hard and did their best, but it's very difficult when somebody gets injured like that."
In addition to his strong performances on parallel bars and still rings, McNeill came in second among all gymnasts on pommel horse. The reigning NCAA champion in that event notched an 8.850.
Before heading east for the NCAA Championships, Cal will hold an intrasquad meet on Saturday, April 7, at the Golden Bear Rec Center at 6 p.m. Then the Bears head to Penn State for the NCAA Championships from April 12-14.
Team Totals:
1. Oklahoma - 217.950
2. Stanford - 216.100
3. California - 215.000
4. Nebraska - 203.450
5. Air Force - 189.050
