OU Bests No. 10 Iowa State in Ames

NORMAN, Okla. For the third time in as many weeks, the Oklahoma women's gymnastics team went on the road and beat a ranked team. Friday's victim tenth-ranked Iowa State. The Sooners recorded a team score of 196.250, besting the Cyclones' 194.425.

Once again the competition came down to the final event. After an uncharacteristic fall by 2006 All-America Kiara Redmond to lead off the beam, OU needed five solid performances to come away with a win. The Sooners delivered thanks to what head coach K.J. Kindler called "the best beam routine of the year" by senior Lori Winn. The Oklahoma City native tied her career high with a 9.9 to clinch the OU victory.

"Once you have a fall it takes a really strong beam team to come back and stick five straight routines," Kindler said. "They were unscathed by that. They really stepped up when they needed to and performed under tremendous pressure."

Winn shared the beam title with Iowa State's Janet Anson and also took her first bars crown of the year, tying her career high with a 9.875.

Final Scores

Kindler also lauded her team's vault performance as the best of the year so far. Sophomore Ashley Jackson claimed her third event title of the year, tying her career high with a 9.875. Sophomore Haley DeProspero scored a season-high 9.85 to tie for second place with teammate Kiara Redmond and ISU's Megan Barnes. Freshman Mary Mantle also finished in the top five on the event with a career-best-tying 9.825.

"Vault was the best it's been all year, bar none," Kindler said. "The landings were stuck, the vaults were dynamic it was definitely exciting."

Friday night's meet marked Kindler and husband and assistant coach Lou Ball's return to Ames. The couple were at Iowa State from 2001-2006 before taking over the reins at Oklahoma last summer.

"Of course it was emotional," Kindler said. "But once you get going it kind of goes away. Everybody was so excited to see us and it was a great atmosphere to go in and compete against another really good team."

The Sooners continue their weekend tour of the Hawkeye state with a visit to the University of Iowa on Sunday. The meet is scheduled for a 2 p.m. (CST) start at the UI Field House in Iowa City.

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