Oklahoma Senior Nabs Conference Accolade

After his first all-around competition of the season, Vitaliy Guimaraes landed the Sooners' eighth MPSF honor this year.

John E. Hoover|

Oklahoma Senior Nabs Conference Accolade

By OU Media Relations

Oklahoma men’s gymnastics fifth-year senior Vitaliy Guimaraes was named Gymnast of the Week by the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation after leading No. 1 Oklahoma to a meet victory over No. 4 Penn State and No. 6 Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday, the conference office announced Tuesday.

Guimaraes completed the all-around for the first time this season, registering a score of 83.050 to lead the Sooners. He won the vault event title with a 14.500 and scored a 14.050 on floor. He led off four events for the Sooners, setting the tone particularly well on parallel bars by posting a 13.700 when OU needed a big score to clinch the meet. His 13.850 on pommel horse tied a season high.

An Arvada, CO, product, Guimaraes has won two vault event titles and five overall event titles this season. He ranks fourth nationally in floor exercise.

This is Oklahoma’s eighth MPSF weekly award this season, and the first of the year for Guimaraes. Zach Nunez was named MPSF Gymnast of the Week twice (Feb. 7 and 21), Ignacio Yockers was named Specialist of the Week twice (Feb. 14 and 21) and Freshman of the Week twice (Feb. 1 and 7) and Dan Simmons was named Specialist of the Week on Feb. 7.

Mark Williams' squad concludes the regular season on Saturday at California. The meet is set to begin at 4 p.m. CT.

Published Mar 14, 2023

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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