NORMAN — Past and present members of the Oklahoma men's gymnastics team completed the first day of competition at the 2019 Winter Cup in Las Vegas, Nev., on Friday evening.

The day was highlighted by Oklahoma putting three current or former gymnasts in the top five of the all-around ranks in the senior session. Current Sooners senior co-captain Yul Moldauer (84.500), 2017 OU alum Allan Bower (82.350) and senior co-captain Genki Suzuki (82.300) retained their spots on the U.S. Senior Men's National Team with respective all-around finishes of first, third and fourth. 

With the first-place finish and U.S. National Team spot secured, Moldauer was crowned the 2019 Winter Cup all-around champion, marking his second career Winter Cup all-around crown. Oklahoma gymnasts have won six of the past 10 Winter Cup all-around titles dating back to 2010 (Chris Brooks, '10 and '14; Jake Dalton, '11 and '13; Moldauer, '17 and '19).

“I'm pleased with the guys' performances tonight and I feel good that the results indicate they prepared pretty well," said Oklahoma head coach Mark Williams. "We still have guys that have some work to do, but I'm thrilled for Yul to be the Winter Cup champion and Allan to finish in the top three. Genki as well in fourth, he's moved up a little bit in the ranks since the summer U.S. Championships, so that's great for those guys." 

2017 Oklahoma alumnus Colin Van Wicklen (81.100) finished eighth in the all-around standings after the first day of competition, while current Sooner Levi Anderson (80.600) took ninth. Junior Tanner Justus (79.900) placed 13th after the all-around session. 

“Colin has a little work to do on Sunday and Levi is another one that is right there along with Tanner Justus," Williams continued. "Those guys will see if they can secure a spot in the top 12. Now, we have a day to recover and go after it one more day and hopefully, we can secure one or two more spots on the team.”

Along with the top all-around tally, Moldauer took home the top score on parallel bars with a 14.450 and finished in the top three on two more events, notching a 14.100 for second on pommel horse and 14.500 for third on still rings. Van Wicklen put up a massive 15.000 vault for the top score on the event of the evening. Bower claimed a tie for second on floor exercise, putting up 14.450. Suzuki put together a solid showing, taking home second on high bar (14.400) and third on parallel bars (13.850). 

Other current Sooners Vitaliy Guimaraes (78.000), Alexei Vernyi (77.200) and Spencer Goodell (75.150) finished 22nd, 26th and 30th in the all-around on the first day of competition. 2016 OU alum Kanji Oyama, competing for the U.S. Olympic Training Center, tallied a 72.950.

2019 OU signees Jack Freeman and Lazarus Barnhill competed in Friday morning's juniors session. Freeman (73.800) just missed advancing to Sunday's finals session with a 16th-place all-around finish on day one. Barnhill, competing only five events, claimed the top spot on pommel horse with a 13.300 set and placed third on high bar (12.800). 

Winter Cup action will resume on Sunday with the senior event finals and junior all-around and event finals beginning at 9:15 p.m. CT.

Performances at the 2019 Winter Cup determine the 12 men who will comprise the U.S. Men's Senior National Team through the 2019 U.S. Gymnastics Championships in Kansas City, Mo., Aug. 8-11.