OU Qualifies for NCAA Championships

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. The Oklahoma women's gymnastics team placed second at the 2007 NCAA Central Regional earning the team a spot in the NCAA National Championships for a school-record fourth straight year.

Host school Alabama took home first place with a 196.700. Iowa State and Oklahoma tied for second place at the end of competition with a 195.925. The tiebreaker was determined by adding the sixth score to every event. After the tiebreaker, the Sooners came out on top, defeating the Cyclones 233.40 to 233.20.

“I think that we started out really well,” said OU head coach K.J. Kindler. “Bars was not our characteristic performance and we had to make a substitution at the last minute. Balance beam was not our characteristic performance either. Ashley Jackson and Kiara Redmond did a phenomenal job on floor. It was tough to have that kind of pressure, we knew the situation we were in and were excited to come out on top.”

Final Scores

The last time that the national qualifier out of the Central Regional was determined by a tiebreaker was in 2003 between Auburn and Central Michigan.

Oklahoma placed gymnasts in the top three in three of the four events. Redmond, a junior, took home first in the floor exercise with a 9.925, tied for third on vault with a 9.875 and tied for second in the all-around competition with a 39.425.

On beam, senior Brittney Koncak-Schumann won top honors a 9.9 and senior Lori Winn tied for third place with a 9.85.

Sophomore Ashley Jackson tied for second place on floor setting a career-high 9.9.

The 2007 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships will be held in Salt Lake City, Utah, April 26-28.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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