Oklahoma gymnastics: OU women headed to 18th straight NCAA Championship

For the women’s Oklahoma gymnastics squad, it’s almost automatic.

For the 18th consecutive year, the Sooners are on their way to the NCAA Championship after capturing the regional championship for the 12th straight time under head coach K.J. Kindler. It is the fourth time since 2010 that Oklahoma has advanced to the NCAA Championship while also serving as the regional host site.

The top two teams at each of four regional locations advance to the NCAA Championship in Ft. Worth, Texas, April 14-16. Joining the Sooners in Ft. Worth will be Minnesota, which finished second to OU in the Norman Regional held at Lloyd Noble Center. California finished third and Arkansas fourth.

The OU women, ranked No. 1 in the country, are now 29-2 in the 2022 season. The Sooners are 129-4 when competing inside the LNC since Kindler arrived as head coach in 2007 and have recorded 60 consecutive victories in their home arena. The current Sooner roster has never lost a home meet at the LNC.

Oklahoma won three of the four team events and captured two individual championships while sharing a third. The Sooners took the team title on vault, beam and the uneven bars. Minnesota bested the second-place Sooners in floor exercise.

Freshman Danielle Sievers was the individual champion on bars and junior Ragan Smith posted the highest score on beam with a near-perfect score of 9.975.

Senior Olivia Trautman shared the high score on vault with another near-perfect score of 9.975. Maddie Quarles of Minnesota equaled that score and tied for the individual title in the event.

Gymnasts from Minnesota captured the other two individual titles: Mya Hooten’s 9.975 score was the best on floor and Ona Loper was the all-around champion.

The Oklahoma women will be seeking their fifth national championship in gymnastics. The Sooners finished second to Michigan a year ago.