Sooners Head to Big 12 Championship

The No. 6 Oklahoma women’s gymnastics team will head to Lincoln, Neb., on March 25, for the 2006 Big 12 Championship hosted by the University of Nebraska.  The meet is slated to start at 7 p.m. CST in the Bob Devaney Sports Center. 

The championship will be aired by Fox Sports Network on tape delay throughout the week following the meet.  FSN Southwest will air the event on Thursday, March 30, at 12:00 p.m..

OU rolls into Lincoln holding a 9-6 overall record and a 1-2 mark in Big 12 meets.  The Sooners have won five consecutive meets since Feb. 17 with wins over Missouri, LSU, Texas Woman’s University, Centenary and Kent State.

Under head coach Steve Nunno, the No. 6 national ranking is the highest mark for a Sooner team heading into postseason action.  The Sooners have been ranked in the top 10 for nine consecutive weeks with their best ranking (No. 5) coming on March 20.   

“We are really excited about our chances heading into the championship,” said head coach Steve Nunno.  “We start on bars and we hope to get out to a good start.  Everyone in the Big 12 is strong this season.  The meet should be very exciting.”

The Sooners enter the meet coming off a 196.575-193.900 victory over Kent State in Kent, Ohio.  Brittney Koncak-Schumann led OU with three individual event victories on vault (9.95), bars (9.85) and floor (9.925).  She also posted a career-high 39.600 and was crowned all-around champion.

The Big 12 Championship will bring stiff competition for the Sooners with No. 4 Iowa State, No. 11 Nebraska and No. 13 Missouri all competing.  OU went 1-2 in regular season dual meets in conference action with its lone win coming against Missouri (196.100-196.000) on Feb. 17.

Oklahoma is ranked in the top 15 natonally in all four events and showcases arguably the best vault team in the nation.  The Sooners are ranked No. 2 on vault, No. 14 on bars, No. 6 on beam and No. 7 on floor.  Koncak-Schumann is the Sooners’ top all-around competitor ranked at No. 6.  She is also ranked No. 10 on beam, tied for 13th on floor and tied for 21st on bars and No. 6 on vault.  

The Sooners will be looking for their second Big 12 Championship victory in program history.  In 2004, OU won the championship with a score of 196.950 at the Knapp Center in Des Moines, Iowa.  During the Becky Switzer era, Oklahoma won five Big 8 Championships (1984, 1985, 1986, 1991,1993).

Both freshman Haley DeProspero and Koncak-Schumann have played vital roles in the success of the team this season.  Both gymnasts have competed in the all-around for the Sooners in every meet this seasson.  Koncak-Schumann has hit 37 out of 40 routines for an impressive 92.5 percent. 

“Brittney (Koncak-Schumann) and Haley (DeProspero) are really starting to come into their own,” Nunno said.  “They are peaking at the right time and will be ready to compete.  But in order for us to win we will need everyone to step up and perform well.  Everybody is really excited about the challenge and we are all confident in getting the job done.”