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MEGAN FERGUSON
WHITNEY PALMER
AMBER FLORES
ANA-MARIA CONSTANTINESCU
ANDREI DAESCU
WILL CLAYE
BRIDGET LAPLANTE
KYLE TERRY
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ALL-AROUND EXCELLENCE
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Head Coach Mark Williams and the Oklahoma men’s gymnastics team completed another championship year, finishing undefeated in the regular season and adding three national individual titles to its history. Steven Legendre proved ready to follow in Jonathan Horton’s footstep’s by capturing three individual national championships. The sophomore claimed the national all-around title and two individual titles on floor and vault to move past Bart Conner (three titles) in the OU record books. Legendre’s five national titles in his two-year career left him one behind Horton’s total.
62&&(5 Junior forward Whitney Palmer put together the best individual season in program history in 2009 with a program-record 15 goals scored. Her record-setting campaign was recognized with selections to the NSCAA All-District second team and All-Big 12 first team, both OU firsts since 2005. The Sooners started the season undefeated after four games, but were forced to start as many as seven freshmen in the final 15 contests after losing several starters to injuries, including two for the season. Despite the setbacks, OU doubled its win total from a year ago with a 7-10-2 record under second-year head coach Nicole Nelson.
62)7%$// The OU softball team wrapped up the year 40-16 overall and 14-4 in Big 12 play. The Sooners won their fourth Big 12 regular season title and hosted an NCAA Regional for the second consecutive year. Junior Amber Flores was named Big 12 Player of the Year and head coach Patty Gasso earned her fourth Big 12 Coach of the Year honor. Flores was a first team All-America selection by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association and senior Samantha Ricketts was named to the second team.
:20(1Ŏ6 7(11,6 The women’s tennis team finished its first season under head coach David Mullins with a 9-14 overall record and a 3-9 Big 12 record. The Sooners faced a challenging schedule, playing 15 of their 23 matches on the road with nine matches against nationally ranked opponents. Ana-Maria Constantinescu was named Big 12 Player of the Year after her stellar sophomore campaign.
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The men’s tennis team (12-10, 1-5 Big 12) began the spring season at No. 71 nationally and had three players ranked in the ITA top 75. OU ended the spring season with a national ranking of 44th as the Sooners faced one of the toughest schedules in the nation, one that included duals against 15 teams in the ITA top 75.
75$&. ),(/' The fourth year under head coach Martin Smith marked a continued growth for the Sooners as OU added 13 All-Americans and one NCAA champion in 2009. On the conference front, the men and women combined to earn four Big 12 titles. The Sooners reached the double-digit mark in All-America honors for the third consecutive year with eight coming at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and five at the NCAA Indoor Championships. One of the All-Americans, freshman Will Claye, claimed the program’s 13th NCAA title with a win in the triple jump while another, Ti’Anca Mock, recorded a sweep of the Big 12 Conference titles, claiming indoor and outdoor titles in the long jump. Another freshman, Luke Bryant, earned the Big 12 title in the discus.
92//(<%$// Behind the stellar play of AVCA All-Region performer sophomore Suzy Boulavsky, OU made its sixth NCAA Tournament appearance. The Sooners closed the year at 18-12 (11-9 Big 12) after falling to USC in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Los Angeles. Kelly Files was named National Assistant Coach of the Year by the American Volleyball Coaches Association at the conclusion of the season.
:5(67/,1* The University of Oklahoma wrestling squad tallied its most victories in seven seasons in head coach Jack Spates’ 16th season at the helm as the 2009 squad finished with a 16-4 overall record. It marked the 14th straight season that Spates had led the Sooners to at least 10 wins. In OU’s second dual of the season against Oklahoma City, the Sooner head coach picked up his 200th win overall in Norman.
2010 OKLAHOMA WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS GUIDE