Oklahoma gymnastics: Sooner women win 6th national title in last 9 seasons

The women’s Oklahoma gymnastics team captured its second straight national championship and its sixth in the past nine seasons on Saturday in Ft. Worth, Texas.

The Sooners finished off their season at the top-ranked team in NCAA women’s gymnastics beating out No. 2 Florida by .150 with a final team score of 198.3875. The Lady Gators were second with a score of 198.2375. No. 5 Utah, which edged OU in the second semifinal session on Thursday, was third and No. 6 LSU finished fourth in Saturday’s “Floor on the Floor” NCAA Championship finals.

OU started off on the competition on vault and took the lead after the opening rotation, a position they were able to hold onto through the three other rotations. Sophomore Danielle Sievers leadoff for the Sooners on vault and posted a 9.8625. Freshman Faith Torrez scored 9.925 and super senior Olivia Trautman, the 2023 NCAA vault champion, earned a score of 9.950 to put the Sooners on top heading to the second rotation, which for OU was the uneven bars.

Junior Audrey Davis anchored another sensational team performance for the Sooners on bars with a score of 9.925. All five OU gymnasts in the event scored in the 9.9s. OU’s cumulative team score of 49.6375 was the second-best NCAA Championship score in the event in program history.

Oklahoma (vault and bars) led Florida (beam and floor) after two rotations 99.2000 to 98.9500. LSU stood third after two rotations and Utah was fourth.

The Sooners moved to the beam for their third rotation. While OU was on beam, the crowd at Dickies Arena the crowd noise reached an elevated level watching Florida perform on vault. Gator star Trinity Thomas drew a huge crowd reaction scoring a perfect 10. It was the first perfect score in the championship finals and the 28th in her brilliant collegiate career.

While all of that was going on, the Sooners kept their composure on the beam. Led by Davis’ 9.950, OU scored 49.5125 in the event to retain the overall lead after three rotations. The teams standings with one rotation remaining stayed the same as after the second rotation.

For the final rotation, Oklahoma moved to the floor, while second-place Florida finished on bars. Davis leadoff for the Sooners on floor and posted a 9.900 score, and the scores got better from there. Sophomore Jordan Bowers’ floor routine scored a team-best 9.950, the highest individual score by any of the competitors in the event, and by that time, the Sooner side of the arena began to celebrate winning a second-straight NCAA crown in women’s gymnastics.

Oklahoma’s scores on vault and on bars was the highest team score in both events.

Oklahoma came into the championship finals knowing that it had beaten the three other teams in dual competition during the 2023 regular season.

For fifth-year Sooner gymnast Olivia Trautman, this is her third national championship (2019, 2022 and 2023) in her OU career