University of Oklahoma Athletics

No. 1 OU Caps Road Stretch at Illinois

No. 1 OU Caps Road Stretch at Illinois

February 25, 2015 | Women's Gymnastics

oklahomamichigan
#1 Oklahoma at #16 Illinois
Feb. 25 | 7 p.m. CT | Champaign, Ill.

NOTES AND NUMBERS FOR WEEK EIGHT

WRAPPING UP
Oklahoma will cap a challenging six-meet stretch of contests away from the Lloyd Noble Center this weekend on the road at No. 16 Illinois. The Sooners enter the meet ranked No. 1 in the nation for the program-record seventh consecutive week with a regional qualifying score (RQS) of 197.640. OU is ranked No. 1 in the country on three separate events (bars, beam, floor), marking the third consecutive week that the squad owns No. 1 national rankings on at least three apparatuses.

SUPER 17
Oklahoma pulled down a nation-leading 17 individual appearances in the national rankings this week, with nine separate gymnasts capturing rankings on four events. No team in the nation has more than three individuals ranked on a single apparatus except the Sooners, who have at least four gymnasts ranked on all four apparatuses. Uneven bars continues to lead the way, with nearly the entire lineup (five gymnasts) earning top 25 rankings as individuals this week. Only Utah (11) and LSU (10) join OU with double-digit totals of individual rankings in this week's listing.

RETURN TO ILLINOIS
A pair of juniors and Oklahoma natives will return to their home turf for this weekend's meet in the state of Illinois. Both hailing from suburbs of Chicago, Keeley Kmieciak and Haley Scaman will have the opportunity to compete in front of family and friends in Champaign. Kmieciak and Scaman have both become powerhouse gymnasts for the Sooners, with Kmieciak competing on vault, bars and beam for OU and Scaman serving a key role in the vault, bars and floor lineups. Kmieciak owns five scores of 9.9 or higher on vault and bars and Scaman has captured 12 event titles this season overall while posting no score lower than a 9.9 on vault.

WOFFORD KEEPS WINNING
Sophomore McKenzie Wofford has become more than just dependable for Oklahoma on uneven bars--she's outstanding. Last season, the McKinney, Texas native earned three scores of 9.9 or better and one individual event title in 14 total performances on bars. This season, Wofford has been stellar, capturing seven scores of 9.9-plus in eight meets, including four of 9.95 or higher. She has won six individual titles on bars, including a current streak of five straight that dates back to Jan. 29 at Denver, and has earned four Big 12 Event Specialist of the Week honors for her efforts.

QUICK HITS
• OU captured two Big 12 accolades this week: Haley Scaman was named conference Gymnast of the Week, while Ali Jackson earned Newcomer of the Week honors. Oklahoma has won at least two conference awards every week this season.
• Nine OU gymnasts are ranked as individuals this week: Erica Brewer (UB - T-17, BB - T-20), Chayse Capps (V - 9, BB - 1), Rebecca Clark (BB - T-16), Brenna Dowell (V - T-20, UB - T-6, FX - T-8), Ali Jackson (V - T-20, FX - T-17), Keeley Kmieciak (UB - T-9), Kara Lovan (BB - T-7, FX - T-11), Haley Scaman (V - 3, UB - 8, FX -T-3), McKenzie Wofford (UB - T-1)

CATCHING UP WITH COACH KINDLER
On Maile'ana Kanewa:
Unfortunately, Maile suffered a season-ending knee injury last weekend at Michigan. We will miss her on the competition floor, but she provides a lot of intangibles to our team and I know she will continue to provide that support. 

On how the team is recovering during a long road schedule:
We are working hard to make sure they are staying hydrated and getting good nutrition. The travel schedule has been difficult but that's part of it and we remind them how fortunate they are to represent the University of Oklahoma. It's been tough, I won't lie. But I think it will only make them stronger in the end. They should probably see the rainbow coming up here where we get to stay home for basically the entire post-season. That's going to be a huge advantage to our team.

On what she wants to see out of the team this weekend:
We just keep putting it together on one or two events and then leaving the other two behind. Or just being super sharp somewhere but not everywhere and I think that's honestly how your season goes. You have to have highs, you have to have lows, and if you don't, you can't have highs if you never have lows. I do think we've been walking away with wins every week and in a couple meets had a fight and had some closer meets, which I think our team is growing from. We are getting a lot of experience from people who have never competed in college, which includes senior Haley Sorensen on balance beam and Brenna and Ali – A lot of people that didn't see a lot of action last year on new events. So, I think they are getting really quality experience and will get better as it goes. The goal is to be hot on all the events the same night and I certainly hope that that night is the Super Six night.

Thursday, July 09
Tuesday, July 07
Sunday, July 05
Friday, July 03