Oklahoma came into the NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships as the overall top seed and the defending national champion, and remain so heading to the championship finals on Saturday afternoon in Fort Worth.
The Sooners finished first in their national semifinal session on Thursday, defeating second-place and No. 13 Minnesota, No. 4 UCLA and No. 9 Arkansas. Oklahoma's winning score of 198.300 was the highest of the two national semifinal sessions. It also marked the ninth time this season the Sooners reached the elite 198 level in competition and their third-highest team score of the season.
No. 3 Florida advanced out of the other semifinal, along with No. 2 LSU with a winning score of 197.787. The top two teams in each of the semifinals advanced to the championship.
Oklahoma meeting Florida, LSU and Minnesota in NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships finals
The Sooners got off to a terrific start in Thursday's second semifinal session with a record-breaking performance on vault. OU's score of 49.750 in its opening rotation was the Sooners' best score in NCAA Championships history, as well as the highest semifinal vault score in NCAA history.
Junior Keira Wells led off for Oklahoma on the vault apparatus, posting a high score of 9.975, earning her the individual national title in the event. She is the fifth OU gymnast to win a national championship in vault and the first since Olivia Trautman in 2023.
OU senior Faith Torrez also captured an individual national championship in the all-around competition with a winning score of 39.7875 to become the fifth Sooner to be named all-around national champion. She joined former Sooners Jordan Bowers (2024), Anastasia Webb (2021), Maggie Nichols (2018, 2019) and Kelly Garrison (1987, 1988). It was Torrez's second individual national title. She was the national champion on beam her sophomore season in 2024.
Oklahoma took control of the second semifinal session right from the start and retained the lead through all four rotations, securing its place in the championship finals with a 49.537 on floor in its final rotation.
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This is the Sooners' 12th NCAA finals appearance in the last 13 years, and they have come away national champions in three of the last four and six of the last nine. If OU is able to successfully defend its national championship on Saturday, it will be the third time the Sooners have accomplished that feat in the last decade (2022-2023 and 2016-2017).
It would be Oklahoma's eighth national title in women's gymnastics, the third-most by any school. Georgia leads with 10, followed by Utah with nine.
Three SEC teams plus Minnesota, competing in its first NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships finals, are vying for this year's national championship.
Oklahoma has faced LSU three times this season, tying the Tigers in the season-opening Sprouts Farmer's Market Collegiate Quad (although OU was awarded the victory on a 6-score tiebreaker) and defeating them the two other times. Florida is the only team to defeat the Sooners this season, finishing ahead of OU in the SEC Championships. The Sooners also own a win over the Gators in a dual competition in Gainesville on March 13.
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