Oklahoma Earns No. 1 NCAA Regional Seed

NORMAN, Okla. -- For the fifth consecutive season, the Oklahoma women's gymnastics team has earned a No. 1 seed for NCAA regional competition. The NCAA announced today that OU is the No. 1 seed in the Minneapolis Regional and will face Minnesota, Illinois, California, Southern Utah and San Jose State on Saturday, April 5.

The Sooners are ranked No. 2 nationally this week after capturing the program's seventh Big 12 title last weekend with a 198.000, the nation's best conference championship score. Oklahoma will aim for its fifth consecutive regional title and an 11th-straight NCAA Championship berth at regional competition.

“We had kind of mapped it out a little bit and thought that this is where we were going, but when the first team came up I thought maybe they made some changes," head coach K.J. Kindler said. "I was excited to see that we were going there and that was how it ended up. Of course that's my hometown, so I'm excited to see my family and I know our fans will come out in droves.””

OU is 2-0 against NCAA Minneapolis Regional teams this season, holding wins over Illinois and Minnesota. The Sooners defeated on Feb. 28 in Norman (197.250-195.850) and topped Minnesota in a quad meet on March 9 (198.150-196.275). Illinois and Minnesota notched respective fourth and third-place finishes at the 2014 Big Ten Championship last weekend, while California placed a program-high third at the Pac-12 conference meet.

The Sooners will be led into competition by head coach K.J. Kindler, the 2014 Big 12 Coach of the Year. Kindler has guided Oklahoma to four NCAA regional titles, six Big 12 championships and seven NCAA Championship appearances. Under Kindler's leadership, OU has achieved three top-three NCAA finishes since 2010.

“Our team has talked about committing to three – three weeks left," Kindler said. "Committing in every fashion that you can; heart and soul, inside and outside the gym – giving it your absolute all and continuing to push, push, push.”

The top-18 teams in NCAA competition are seeded nationally, based on RQS, and placed into the bracket (see related links-top right). Teams 19-36 are organized into three pods (19-24, 25-30 and 31-36) and placed geographically at one of the six sites, beginning with teams 19-24 followed by teams 25-30 and then finally teams 31-36. Seeding determined at the time of regional selections will be maintained throughout the championships.

The top two finishing teams from each NCAA regional will advance to the 2014 NCAA Championships in Birmingham, Ala. The meet will take place from April 18-20, with semifinal competition set for April 18 and the Super Six team finals slated for April 19. Championship competition will wrap up on April 20 with the individual event finals and award presentation.

NCAA Regional Assignments
Site (Host Institution)	Rank	Seed	Team	RQS
University Park (Penn State)	1	1	Florida	197.895
	12	2	Oregon State	196.615
	15	3	Penn State	196.475
	23	4	New Hampshire	195.880
	29	5	Kentucky	195.585
	38	6	Maryland	195.010
Minneapolis (Minnesota)	2	1	Oklahoma	197.775
	11	2	Illinois	196.650
	14	3	Minnesota	196.505
	19	4	California	196.270
	26	5	Southern Utah	195.665
	31	6	San Jose State	195.510
Baton Rouge (LSU)	3	1	LSU	197.720
	10	2	Stanford	196.815
	13	3	Auburn	196.560
	21	4	Arizona	196.160
	27	5	Kent State	195.655
	35	6	Iowa State	195.160
Seattle (Washington)	4	1	Alabama	197.615
	9	2	Nebraska	196.950
	16	3	Boise State	196.395
	20	4	Denver	196.205
	25	5	BYU	195.820
	33	6	Washington	195.265
Fayetteville (Arkansas)	5	1	Utah	197.575
	8	2	UCLA	197.005
	17	3	Arkansas	196.355
	24	4	Arizona State	195.855
	30	5	Utah State	195.570
	34	6	UC Davis	195.260
Athens (Georgia)	6	1	Georgia	197.265
	7	2	Michigan	197.105
	18	3	Central Michigan	196.300
	22	4	Ohio State	195.905
	28	5	NC State	195.615
	32	6	Rutgers	195.340

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Oklahoma Earns No. 1 NCAA Regional Seed

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