OU gymnastics: Sooner women head into NCAA Championships seeking 3rd straight title
By Chip Rouse
For the second straight year, the women's Oklahoma gymnastics squad heads into the NCAA Championships as the reigning national champions and the No. 1 overall seed.
Coming off of a 2024 regular season in which the OU women completed a perfect 29-0 and set a new NCAA record for overall team score, the Sooners begin NCAA Regional competition on Thursday in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Oklahoma enters the NCAA Championships looking for its seventh national title.
This is Oklahoma's 20th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Women's Championships and it is the 14th consecutive year the Sooners have earned the No. 1 seed in regional competition. It is the eighth time in the last nine year's the NCAA Championships have been held that OU has been awarded the No. 1 overall seed in the championship.
Eight other teams will be participating in the Ann Arbor Regional along with the Sooners: No. 9 Michigan, No. 8 Alabama, No. 16 North Carolina State, No. 17 Ohio State, No. 23 Kent State, No. 25 Penn State, Illinois and Ball State. In addition, all-around competitors from Eastern Michigan, Illinois State, Lindenwood (Missouri), Pittsburgh and Western Michigan will compete for the chance to advance to the championship round.
The Sooners have competed against two of the Ann Arbor Regional teams this season. OU has defeated Michigan twice and Alabama, all three wins coming at Lloyd Noble Center.
The overall championship is made up of the top 36 schools based on their national qualifying score. There are four regional sites (Ann Arbor, Berkeley (California), Fayetteville (Arkansas) and Gainesville (Florida). Regional competition will take place April 3-6. Oklahoma begins competition in the second round on Thursday, April 4. There is a day in between the second round and the regional finals.
Top-ranked Oklahoma has won 13 consecutive regional championships. The Sooners NQS this season was an NCAA record 198.500, which they achieved in the Big 12 Championship.
The top two teams out of each of the four regionals plus the top all-around competitor who is not on one of the two advancing teams will move on to the NCAA Championships. Also, the top event specialists in each of the individual rotations who is not on one of the advancing teams will advance to championship round.
The NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships will be held April 18-20 in Ft. Worth, Texas. Since 2010, Oklahoma has finished in the top three 12 times, including the six national championship seasons (2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023).