OU men’s gymnastics: Sooners release 2021 schedule, featuring 3 virtual meets

The Oklahoma men’s gymnastics team released its 2021 schedule Tuesday.

𝐋𝐞𝐭'𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞. #Sooners announce 2021 slate, beginning this Saturday in Colorado at the Rocky Mountain Open! » https://t.co/VWqTLdPOx6#GymU pic.twitter.com/WSTyZ88wza

— Oklahoma Men's Gym (@OU_MGymnastics) January 12, 2021

The Sooners jump-start their season Jan. 16 in Colorado at the Rocky Mountain Open against Air Force and Arizona State. OU’s 2021 schedule is highlighted by four meets in Norman, three of which are virtual. A virtual meet will require both teams to compete from their home facilities while the judging is also done virtually.

"We're excited to get back to what we do," Sooner head coach Mark Williams said in the schedule release. "We have a schedule that is going to allow us to compete again with the modification of having virtual contests, which will be new to any NCAA sport and allow us to fulfill the number of meets we need to qualify for the national championships without traveling too much. 

"We certainly faced all kinds of challenges as we prepared the schedule and had to be flexible in terms of our training and scheduling how meets will be run this year. We look forward to getting out there and reaping the rewards of our work and getting the chance to get out in front of a crowd, whether in person or virtual, and compete again."

After their trip to the Rocky Mountain Open, the Sooners will return to Norman to host three consecutive home meets against Air Force on Jan. 23, then virtually against Army on Jan. 30 and virtually against Stanford on Feb. 6.

Oklahoma will also compete virtually against Ohio State on Feb. 20 before taking a break from NCAA competition to begin preparation for the Winter Cup Challenge.

The Sooners will look to add opponents to fill out the remainder of their schedule on March 6 and 13. Oklahoma will then finish off its regular season in Berkeley, California, against California.

The 2021 NCAA National Championship will be held in Minneapolis at the University of Minnesota. The Sooners have won four of the past five NCAA championships and will look to claim their 13th championship this season.