Benas, Aranda and Flores Earn Weekly MPSF Honors

NORMAN – The Oklahoma men's gymnastics team swept the weekly MPSF conference awards, as redshirt senior Fuzzy Benas was named Gymnast of the Week, redshirt freshman Colby Aranda was named Freshman of the Week and junior Tyler Flores was named Specialist of the Week, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation announced Tuesday.

The trio led the Sooners to the highest team score in the nation this season (328.650) in wins over No. 3 Ohio State (317.700) and No. 13 Air Force (303.050) on Saturday at McCasland Field House.

Benas scored a 13.950 on high bar and a 13.850 on floor exercise to win both individual event titles. He also added a 14.250 on vault and a 13.600 on parallel bars, notching season-high scores on both events. His 8.900 execution score on parallel bars and 8.750 execution score on high bar were both the highest in their respective rotations. The Richmond, Texas, product ranks seventh nationally on floor exercise (13.667) and eighth on parallel bars (13.550) and high bar (13.600).

Aranda, who is from Grapevine, Texas, scored a career-high 14.500 on pommel horse to win his first career event title in his McCasland Field House debut. His start value of 5.5 was the highest on any apparatus in the meet, while his execution score of 9.000 was the highest on pommel horse by 0.350. The performance helped Aranda take over the number one ranking in the nation on pommel horse (14.183) and lead the Sooners to the number one team ranking on the event (54.813).

Flores stuck his vault for a career-high 14.550 to tie for the event title. The Mountain House, Calif., product also scored a 13.900 on pommel horse and a 13.200 on parallel bars. Flores' 14.550 vault score is tied for the highest in the nation this season, and he leapt to top of the national rankings with his 14.400 average. His pommel horse execution score of 9.000 was tied for the highest on the event in the meet.

This is Aranda's first career MPSF weekly award, Flores' first of the season and the second of his career, and Benas' second of the season and seventh of his career. OU has now won six MPSF weekly awards this season. Redshirt junior Leo Koike was named MPSF Gymnast of the Week and Benas earned MPSF Specialist of the Week honors on Feb. 3, while freshman Sasha Bogonosiuk was named MPSF Freshman of the Week on Jan. 20.

Up Next

Oklahoma is off next weekend before Benas, Bogonosiuk and Roman take part in USA Gymnastics Winter Cup, which will be held Feb. 21-22 in Louisville, Ky. Alumnus Yul Moldauer and signees Dante Reive and Hunter Simpson are also qualified for Winter Cup.

The Sooners return to McCasland Field House on Feb. 28 to face No. 5 Nebraska. The meet is set to begin at 6 p.m. CT, with introductions at 5:45 p.m. It will be Educator Appreciation Night and Greek Night, featuring an OU hat giveaway and $2 takeover (beer, soda and popcorn). The team will sign autographs after the meet.

For updates and more information on Oklahoma men's gymnastics, follow the Sooners on Twitter and Instagram (@OU_MGymnastics) and like Oklahoma Men's Gymnastics on Facebook.