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WVU Faces No. 1 Oklahoma in Coliseum Opener
January 20, 2017 02:27 PM | Gymnastics
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University gymnastics team opens its 2017 home slate at the WVU Coliseum against top-ranked and defending National Champion Oklahoma on Saturday, Jan. 21, at 7 p.m.
Saturday is a “Dollar Night,” and all tickets, as well as small popcorns and small Coca Colas, will be available for $1 each. Additionally, it’s also “Poster Day,” and the 2017 gymnastics schedule poster will be available for fans to pick up. Tickets are on sale now at WVUGAME.com.
WVU students will be admitted for free with a valid WVU Student I.D. The first 250 students in attendance will receive a “Beat KU” t-shirt in anticipation of the WVU men’s basketball team’s Jan. 24 contest against the Jayhawks.
“I’m really excited for Saturday night,” Mountaineer coach Jason Butts said. “Oklahoma is going to bring an incredible amount of athleticism into the Coliseum, and it’s going to be an exciting meet for fans. I would love for the fans to come out – it’s going to be a good show.”
Saturday night is the eighth meeting between the Mountaineers (1-1) and the Sooners (2-0) since 2013, WVU’s first season as members of the Big 12 Conference. WVU trails the all-time series, 1-12. In their last meeting, WVU scored 195.925 and finished in third place at the 2016 Big 12 Gymnastics Championship on March 19, at the Dr. Pepper Arena, in Frisco, Texas. OU tallied 198.05 and earned its fifth straight conference title.
The Sooners return to Morgantown for the first time since winning the 2014 Big 12 Gymnastics Championship title on March 22, in front of 2,112 fans at the WVU Coliseum, with a 198.0 mark, a Coliseum record for the best mark earned by any team.
The Mountaineers open their home slate following a 1-1 showing in the first two weeks of competition, including a season-high 194.4 mark earned in a win at Maryland (193.95) on Jan. 8. WVU is nationally ranked No. 19 on vault (48.888 avg.) and No. 24 on balance beam (48.55 avg.).
“This team is excited to be home and competing in front of its fans,” Butts added. “We are ready to be at home – we love competing inside the WVU Coliseum. It’s an incredible atmosphere! Everything is designed around the fan experience.”
Three Mountaineer gymnasts own four national rankings. Sophomore Kirah Koshinski ranks No. 16 on vault (9.888 avg.) and No. 26 on floor exercise (9.863 avg.). Junior Jordan Gillette checks in at No. 7 on balance beam (9.9 avg.), and classmate Zaakira Muhammad ranks No. 32 on vault (9.85 avg.). Sophomore Tiara Wright paces the team on uneven bars with a 9.775 average.
The Sooners not only rank No. 1 nationally overall, they also rank No. 1 on bars (49.525 avg.), beam (49.413 avg.) and floor (49.513 avg.). OU sits at No. 3 nationally on vault (49.438 avg.).
Though six gymnasts who combined for 12 All-America honors returned for OU this season, freshman Maggie Nichols, the two-time reigning Big 12 Newcomer of the Week, has set the standard early. A member of the Gold Medal, 2015 U.S. Women’s World Championships team and the sixth-place finisher at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Nichols ranks No. 1 nationally in the all-around (39.737 avg.), bars (9.95 avg.) and floor (9.95 avg.). She also ranks a team-best No. 2 on beam (9.925 avg.) and is tied with teammate Chayse Capps at No. 7 on vault (9.912 avg.).
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