Senior gymnasts Brett Covey, Shannon Carrion, Daniel Furney and Josh Landis could not have ended their careers at OU any better than they did this weekend.
The OU men's gymnastics team added a final touch to its 2003 season with another NCAA national championship title.
After winning nationals last year in Norman, the Sooners traveled to Philadelphia without distraction, took the lead after only two rotations and never let up until OU's victory was complete.
Ohio State and Penn State presented the biggest challenges for OU. Penn State had the advantages of location and support. OU's score of 220.700 defeated them both. Ohio State came in second with a final score of 220.600, followed by Penn State with 219.950 points.
The other three teams that made up the six final schools of this year's NCAA battle were Michigan (217.125), Illinois (217.250) and Iowa (215.250).
OU head coach Mark Williams wanted the team to separate itself from the pack, set a standard and win the championship in style. Williams said he told the team this championship was about excellence.
"I am very proud to say that this team did that (Saturday)," he said.
Daniel Furney won the NCAA All-Around title in addition to receiving the prestigious Nissen Emery award.
"He is one of the top three gymnasts of all time at OU," Williams said of Furney. "Not many gymnasts have ever had a weekend like he did."
The school's record for parallel bars was also broken by half a point.
OU broke its team mark in vault scores as well. Sophomore Jock Stevens' performance on the vault tied his personal best on vault when he received a 9.700.
The only event the Sooners did not outscore all opponents was floor competition, but on the next event, pommel horse, OU took the lead for the rest of the meet. The Sooners' early season struggles on this event faded as they were ranked No. 1 in the event going into the meet.
Furney said it played out the same way as last year.
"That was when we knew the meet was ours to win," Furney said. "We were just on fire on vault and knew that no one could touch us after that rotation."
The Sooners are the 13th team in NCAA history to win consecutive national championships. OU also won back to back national championships in 1977 and 1978.
In addition, OU's Mark Williams is the first coach in NCAA history to win two NCAA championships after four years of being a head coach.
The competition will be televised tonight on ESPN.
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