OU Set for MPSF Championship Saturday

THE MEET

No. 1 Oklahoma will compete for a conference championship on Saturday against No. 3 Stanford, No. 8 California and No. 13 Air Force in the MPSF Championship in Berkeley Calif., hosted by the University of California. The meet, which will be held at Haas Pavilion, is set to begin at 6 p.m. CT. A subscription-based live stream will be available via Overnight, and live scoring will be available via Virti.us.

The Sooners have won 20 Team MPSF team championships, including 19 since the 2000 season. OU won its 20th MPSF conference championship last year at the Air Force Academy, scoring a 329.250 to top Stanford (328.950), California (315.450) and Air Force (313.350).

Oklahoma's 20 MPSF titles is by far the most in league's history (the first MPSF Championship was contested in 1993). Stanford is the next closest with seven, and California has three (former member Nebraska won two and UCLA won one). The Sooners and Cardinal have combined to win 27 of the 32 MPSF team championships, and either OU or Stanford has won each of the last 20, dating back to 2005.

STICKS

• The Sooners have posted the two highest team scores in the nation with a 331.600 score against California on March 7 and a 331.300 score in a win over Nebraska on Feb. 28.

• Oklahoma has compiled a 5-0 record against its three MPSF foes this season. The Sooners opened the season with a 323.950 to top Stanford (320.750) and Air Force (302.100) on Jan. 17 at the Rocky Mountain Open. The Sooners defeated Air Force at McCasland Field House 328.650 to 303.050 on Feb. 7. OU ended the regular season with back-to-back wins over California with a 331.600 to 315.700 win in Norman on March 7 and a 325.250 to 315.100 win over California at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, Calif., on March 21.

• Redshirt senior Fuzzy Benas and senior Ignacio Yockers were announced as two of the six finalists for the prestigious Nissen-Emery Award, which is presented annually to the year's outstanding collegiate gymnast. Benas is a CGA Gymnast of the Year, a two-time all-around bronze medalist, an eight-time All-American and six-time CGA Regular Season All-American, a CGA Rookie of the Year and has been a member of the U.S. Senior National Team. Yockers is a CGA Specialist of the Year, a two-time MPSF Specialist of the Year, a pommel horse bronze medalist, a four-time All-American on pommel horse and an MPSF pommel horse champion.

• Freshman Sasha Bogonosiuk was announced as the 2026 MPSF Freshman of the Year and head coach Mark Williams was named the MPSF Coach of the Year. This is Williams' third straight and 17th MPSF Coach of the Year award in his 27 seasons at the helm. Bogonosiuk is the third straight Sooner to claim the conference's Freshman of the Year honor (following Francisco Velez Belendez and Nico Hamilton). Bogonosiuk is the only freshman to rank among the top-8 nationally on two events: vault (fourth; 14.267) and floor exercise (eighth; 13.767).

• Bogonosiuk received regular season All-America recognition on floor exercise and vault. Redshirt freshman Colby Aranda and senior Ignacio Yockers were named All-Americans on pommel horse, and sophomore Francisco Velez Belendez was named an All-American on still rings. Redshirt senior Fuzzy Benas was named an All-American on vault, and freshman Nathan Roman earned All-America recognition on parallel bars. Senior Kelton Christiansen and redshirt sophomore Brandon Zepeda-Orth were named All-Americans on horizontal bar.

• Mark Williams is in his 27th season as Oklahoma head coach. He has led the Sooners to 623 victories (623-61-1 [.909]), nine national championships and 19 MPSF conference titles since his first season in 2000.

NATIONAL RANKINGS NOTES

• Oklahoma is No. 1 in the Week 10 rankings with a 326.833 four-score average after posting a 325.250 team score in a win over No. 8 California (315.100) on Saturday at Haas Pavilion.

• The Sooners rank ahead of No. 2 Michigan (324.500), while No. 3 Stanford (321.583), No. 4 Nebraska (321.050) and No. 5 Ohio State (318.883) round out the top five.

• OU holds first place on pommel horse (55.783) and still rings (53.950). The Sooners rank second on vault (55.867), parallel bars (54.317) and horizontal bar (53.417). Oklahoma also ranks fifth on floor exercise (54.017)

• Oklahoma has two gymnasts ranked No. 1 on individual events, with freshman Nathan Roman atop the parallel bars rankings (14.200) and senior Kelton Christiansen leading the high bar rankings (14.083).

• Freshman Sasha Bogonosiuk ranks eighth on floor exercise (13.767). Redshirt freshman Colby Aranda ranks fourth on pommel horse (14.350), while senior Ignacio Yockers is fifth (14.317). Sophomore Francisco Velez Belendez ranks second on still rings (13.983), and junior Tas Hajdu is 10th (13.750).

• Bogonosiuk ranks fourth on vault (14.267), while senior Fuzzy Benas is ninth (14.150). Redshirt sophomore Brandon Zepeda-Orth ranks eighth on high bar (13.717).

LAST TIME OUT

Junior Nico Hamilton, sophomore Francisco Velez Belendez and senior Kelton Christiansen each earned their third straight individual event titles as Oklahoma capped off its regular season with a team total of 325.250 in a win over No. 8 California (315.100) Saturday evening at Haas Pavilion.

The Sooners finished the regular season undefeated for the first time since 2021 and for the 13th time under head coach Mark Williams.

Hamilton won the floor exercise title with a 13.800 and redshirt freshman Colby Aranda won the pommel horse title with a career-high-tying 14.500. Velez Belendez won still rings with a stuck 14.050 and freshman Nathan Roman won the parallel bars title with a 14.250. Christiansen also won his third straight horizontal bar title with a stuck 14.000.

OU won five team events, posting a 53.650 on floor exercise, a season-high 56.300 on pommel horse, 53.700 on still rings, 54.300 on parallel bars and 52.150 on high bar. The Sooners scored a 55.150 on vault.

In all, Oklahoma set or tied six individual season highs and four career-best marks. The Sooners registered seven scores of 14.000 or better and notched a 9.0 or better execution score on five routines.

HISTORY AND TRADITION

Oklahoma has won 12 national championships (1977, '78, '91, 2002, '03, '05, '06, '08, '15, '16, '17, '18), tied for most in NCAA history (tied with Penn State), including nine national titles since 2000. The Sooners have finished first or second in 19 of the last 23 NCAA Championships, and has reached 25 consecutive NCAA finals, or every championship held since 2000 (does not count the 2020 championship canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic). OU has finished among the top 3 in 23 of the last 24 NCAA Championships held, dating back to the 2001 season.

Mark Williams has led Oklahoma to nine national titles over the course of his 26-plus seasons as head coach of the Sooners. OU won an NCAA championship held in Norman three times: 2002, 2006 and 2015.

The Sooners last won an NCAA championship in 2018 in Chicago, Ill., capping a run of four consecutive national titles (2015-18), then claimed second place in three straight championships: 2019, '21 and '22.

THE MEET

STICKS

NATIONAL RANKINGS NOTES

LAST TIME OUT

HISTORY AND TRADITION

Players Mentioned

Colby Aranda

Fuzzy Benas

Sasha Bogonosiuk

Kelton Christiansen

Tas Hajdu

Nico Hamilton

Nathan Roman

Francisco Velez Belendez

Ignacio Yockers

Brandon Zepeda-Orth

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics