Oklahoma gymnastics: Sooners down No. 5 Utah for 5th straight top-10 win
By Chip Rouse
The national champion women’ Oklahoma gymnastics squad opened the 2023 home season on Sunday defeating No. 5 Utah and matching a season-high score of 197.925.
A crowd of 7,013 was on hand at Lloyd Noble Center, the third largest in program history and the largest for a season opener in OU women’s gymnastics history.
The Sooners started out the competition posting their eighth highest vault score in program history (49.650) and tying Michigan for the second-best team score on vault this season.
Oklahoma won three of the four team rotations, capturing the vault, uneven bars and floor exercise events. Utah posted the best score on the horizontal beam.
Freshman Faith Torrez led the way for the Sooners, posting the top score and winning individual titles on bars and on floor as well as winning the all-around title. Her 9.900 score on bars and 9.950 on floor exercise were both career highs.
Fifth-year senior Allie Stern scored a near-perfect 9.975 to share the vault individual championship with reigning NCAA vault champion Jaedyn Rucker of Utah. Sophomores Jordan Bowers and Danielle Sievers were right there as well, posting second-best individual scored of 9.950.
Bowers also posted a season-high 9.900 in helping Oklahoma to the team title on bars. She also finished second to Torrez in the all-around competition, giving the Sooners a one-two sweep over Grace McCallum of Utah.
Top-ranked Oklahoma is now 5-0 in the new season with wins over No. 4 Michigan, No. 10 UCLA, No. 5 Auburn and No. 10 LSU. Next on the schedule is Denver on Jan. 29. The Sooners have won 11 of their last 12 meetings with the Red Rocks of the University of Utah.