Oklahoma gymnastics gunning for 4th national crown in 5 years
By Chip Rouse
The 2021 quest by the women’s Oklahoma gymnastics program for a fifth national title continues and ends this weekend in Ft. Worth, Texas.
The No. 2-ranked Sooners are seeking to win their fourth NCAA championship in the last five years the championship competition has been held. All NCAA winter and spring activities were cancelled a year ago because of the nationwide COVID-19 outbreak.
Oklahoma is coming off of its 11th consecutive NCAA regional championship, having earned their ticket to the 2021 NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championship finals with a victory in the Tuscaloosa Regional.
The Sooners only loss this season came in the Big 12 Championship, where they finished second to the squad from Denver. That snapped a win streak of eight consecutive Big 12 championships by the OU women and 11 in the past 13 years.
Led by senior Anastasia Webb, winner of both the Big 12 and Region Four Gymnast of the Year award, Oklahoma will compete in Semifinal II of the women’s gymnastics championships in Ft. Worth this weekend. The other teams in the Sooners’ semifinal on Friday are No. 3 LSU, No. 6 Utah and No. 7 Alabama,
The other side of the bracket features No. 1 Florida, No. 4 Michigan, No. 5 California and No. 8 Minnesota.
The Sooners have faced two of the seven other team competing for this year’s team championship. The defeated Utah earlier this season in a dual meet and finished first ahead of Alabama in the Tuscaloosa Regional the weekend before last.
Oklahoma will begin on the uneven bars and then rotate to the beam, floor exercise and close out the rotation on vault.
The top two teams from each semifinal will advance to the Four on the Floor finals on Saturday. OU has been to the championship finals nine times in program history and each of the last six years the NCAA Championships have been held. The Sooners have finished in the top three every year since 2013.