Going for the record
The OU men’s gymnastics is looking to extend a winning streak that would pass the UCLA men’s basketball dynasty.
M— ark Williams and his gymnasts at Oklahoma have a mantra.
“Train like you’re second.”
The Sooners may well practice that way, but when it comes to competition, they are second to none. They haven’t lost in nearly four years. Current win streak: 87. “The guys are like, ‘We don’t want it to end here,’” Sooner star Yul Moldauer said. “We never let any achievement we’ve had get to our heads or affect the way we work.
“We always want to be better.”
As the Sooners prepare for the NCAA Championships this weekend in Chicago, they have a chance to better another streak. Win another national title, and OU will join Illinois (193942) and Nebraska (197983) as the only programs to win at least four in a row.
All of this has catapulted OU men’s
gymnastics into the stratosphere with some of the greatest dynasties in the history of college sports.
UCLA men’s basketball. North Carolina women’s soccer.
Penn State women’s volleyball.
Connecticut women’s basketball.
Those programs had some of the longest winning streaks in majorcollege sports, and if the Sooners keep up their winning ways, they are soon to pass John Wooden’s Bruins and so many others.
So, how impressive is OU’s winning streak?
For starters, wins in gymnastics are accumulated differently than most other team sports. Every team that the Sooners have beaten along the way, whether in dual competition or in a multi-team event, count individually.
When they won the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation title a few weeks ago, for example, they simultaneously competed against and beat three teams.
That was three wins. Of course, college gymnastics teams have only eight or 10 competition dates per season compared to 20 or 30 in most other team sports. Because some of those gymnastics competitions can lead to several wins, the time it has taken for the Sooners to roll up their wins is roughly the same as it took those other dynasties.
Some might argue that it’s become easier to win in men’s gymnastics; lots of college programs have fallen by the wayside over the years. But as the total number of college programs has gone down, the concentration of talent has gone up. Nearly every team on the schedule has some high-level gymnasts because there are only so many programs where these guys can go.
And because male gymnasts generally don’t hit their peak until their early and mid-20s, these teams are often training grounds for America’s future Olympians.
OU has doubt become a place where stars of the sport congregate— there’s been at least one former Sooner on the past four Olympic teams— but Williams has a philosophy that doesn’t always put his best gymnasts on the floor.Everything the coach does during the regular season is in preparation for the postseason. He will use lineups that allow him to see how his gymnasts performwhen it counts and how judges are scoring certain elements of routines.
“It’s building to our best lineup at the end of the season,” Williams said, “and knowing who can perform under pressure.”
And if that means the team loses a regular-season competition, so be it.
It nearly happened a month ago.
OU went to Ohio State shorthanded. Moldauer was nursing a back injury,Isamu Ito was in Canada on international assignment and several other top guys were limited after illness swept through the team.
After the first rotation, OU trailed by four points.
That’s the gymnastics equivalent of a football team being down four touchdowns after the first quarter.
“Not recommended,” Williams deadpanned.
To make matters worse, it was Ohio State’s senior night, and the Buckeyes sensed a chance to pull a big upset.
But the Sooners huddled after that first rotation. They were mad about how they had come out. They were upset about how few skills they’d done well.
“Wewant to be the best team we can be in that moment,” senior Hunter Justus said. “No matter what lineup we put out there, our goal is still to hit our routines.”
That’s what they started doing, and slowly but surely, the Sooners cut into the Buckeyes’ lead. Going into the sixth and final rotation, OU still trailed, but Ohio State seemed to feel the pressure of the pending comeback. The Buckeyes faltered, and the Sooners surged.
In the end, OU rallied for victory.
“Showed a little grit at the end there,” Williams said. “It’s nice to know even without the depth that we’ve had the last three years, these guys still aren’t willing to give up the fight.”
The Sooners may train like they’re second,but they sure don’t compete that way.
They compete like winners.