Oklahoma gymnasts took home the 2005 National Collegiate Men's Gymnastics Championships team title April 8-9 at Army, boosted by a strong performance from freshman Jonathan Horton, who placed third in the all-around competition.

The Sooners finished with a 225.675 score, setting a school record and besting second-place Ohio State by only .225 of a point. It was the third team title in the last four years for Oklahoma and sixth overall for the men's gymnastics program. Illinois finished third with a final score of 223.750. Defending champion Penn State finished fourth, followed by California and Michigan.

Oklahoma gymnasts performed best on the still rings, registering the highest team scores on that rotation. The Sooners also tallied the second-best scores on floor, vault, pommel horse and parallel bars.

Oklahoma went into the final rotation with a lead of more than a point over Ohio State, but the Buckeyes chipped away at that margin with strong showings on the rings. However, Oklahoma's Horton came through with a 9.5 on vault, tying a career-high in the event.

The Sooners also finished well in the parallel bars, posting their second-highest score of the season on the apparatus. Taquy Abdullah-Simmons scored a 9.6 in that event, breaking his own Oklahoma school record for the third straight meet. Abdullah-Simmons also broke his personal record on the pommel horse. The Sooners also scored their second-highest score of the season on the floor exercise behind strong performances from Jacob Messina and David Iammateo.

Sooners coach March Williams said the competition in NCAA men's gymnastics was strong.

"Tonight's competition was unbelievably close," Williams said. "The vault has been one of our weaker events. We had a couple of mistakes early on (in the vault) and it ended up coming down to the very end. The parity is unbelievable and I feel very fortunate to win this. Ohio State is a formidable opponent and they pushed us to the end."

Senior Josh Gore led the team on the pommel horse event, and credited teamwork for the Sooners' success this season.

"This is something I dreamed of," he said. "It is such a great time being a member of this team. We are the true definition of what a team is. Our foundation is having fun, and it makes the competition so much easier."

In the individual championships, gymnasts from different institutions captured each event. Oklahoma's David Henderson won the rings, and Graham Ackerman from California won the floor exercise for the second year in a row. Penn State's Luis Vargas, also the all-around champion, won the pommel horse by a narrow margin.

Illinois' Justin Spring earned his second NCAA championship title by winning the parallel bars. Spring won the high bar event in 2004. Ohio State's Ronald Ferris took the high bar in 2005.

Oklahoma came into the meet ranked second in the country behind Ohio State, while Illinois posted the highest qualifying score coming into the final meet.

Team results

1. Oklahoma, 225.675; 2. Ohio St., 225.450; 3. Illinois, 223.750; 4. Penn St., 222.400; 5. California, 222.075; 6. Michigan, 219.775.

Individual results

All around: 1. Luis Vargas, Penn St., 57.175; 2. Randy Monahan, Ohio St., 56.550; 3. Jonathan Horton, Oklahoma, 56.425; 4. Guillermo Alvarez, Minnesota, 55.650; 5. Justin Laury, Michigan, 55.450; 6. Justin Spring, Illinois, 55.250.

Floor exercise: 1. Graham Ackerman, California, 9.600; 2. Michael McNamara, Iowa, 9.587; 3. Eddie Umphrey, Michigan, 9.525; 4. Jonathan Horton, Oklahoma, 9.475; 5. Randy Monahan, Ohio St., 9.362.

Pommel Horse: 1. Luis Vargas, Penn St., 9.787; 2. Guillermo Alvarez, Minnesota, 9.762; 3. Joshua Gore, Oklahoma, 9.625; 4. Tim McNeill, California, 9.600; 5. Paul Chumreonlert, Nebraska, 9.587; 6. Ronald Ferris, Ohio St., 9.500.

Rings: 1. David Henderson, Oklahoma, 9.700; 2. Brian Lee, Army, 9.687; 3. Jay Yee, California, 9.662; 4. Tyler Yamauchi, Illinois, 9.625; 5 (tie) DJ Bucher, Ohio St., and Jamie Henderson, Oklahoma, 9.562.

Vault: 1. Michael Reavis, Iowa, 9.550; 2. Guillermo Alvarez, Minnesota, 9.400; 3. David Henderson, Oklahoma, 9.375; 4. Santiago Lopez, Penn St., 9.350. 5. (tie) Jonathan Horton, Oklahoma, Tim McNeill, California and Stephen Tetrault, Nebraska, 9.300.

Parallel bars: 1. Justin Spring, Illinois, 9.737; 2. DJ Bucher, Ohio St., 9.637; 3. Luis Vargas, Penn St., 9.462; 4. Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons, Oklahoma, 9.450; 5. Geoff Corrigan, Michigan, 9.375; 6. Adam Pummer, Illinois, 9.300.

High bar: 1. Ronald Ferris, Ohio St., 9.762; 2. Justin Spring, Illinois, 9.737; 3. (tie) Jonathan Horton, Oklahoma, and Adam Pummer, Illinois, 9.475; 5. Luis Vargas, Penn St., 9.450; 6. Linas Gaveika, Iowa, 9.375.