NORMAN, OKLA.-U.S. national team member and University of Oklahoma standout Daniel Furney (pictured at left, click photo to enlarge), third in the all-around at the 2002 NCAAs, has withdrawn from the Qualifier and also plans to forgo U.S. Championships after undergoing knee surgery in April.
Furney earned his first-ever U.S. senior national team berth at the 2002 Winter Cup and had originally hoped to defend that position, but just ran out of time to prepare, according to coach Mark Williams.
“It wasn’t an easy decision,” Williams said, “but, after weighing the pros and cons, we thought it was better to err on the side of caution, rather than rush ahead and risk further injury. Our main goal right now is 2003 and 2004 and we didn’t want to do anything that could jeopardize that. From here his objective is to work on increasing his difficulty to 10.0 Start Values on all six events and he should be back, better than ever, at the Winter Cup next February.”