Sooners Face Stout Field at Metroplex Challenge

No. 2 Oklahoma at Metroplex Challenge

Teams: No. 6 LSU, No. 12 Stanford, No. 16 Missouri, Washington
Jan. 30 | 7 p.m. CT | Fort Worth, Texas | Fort Worth Convention Center

Live Stats

FloGymnastics($)

Notes

Twitter

NOTES AND NUMBERS FOR MEET FIVE

TEXAS TRIP
The No. 2 Oklahoma women's gymnastics team will face No. 6 LSU, No. 12 Stanford, No. 16 Missouri and Washington at the annual Metroplex Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas. The podium meet, which is scheduled for a 7 p.m. CT start on Saturday, will be held at the Fort Worth Convention Center, the host site of the 2016 NCAA Championships. Last year, the Sooners placed first out of four teams, scoring a 197.700 to top No. 2 LSU (197.425), No. 8 Arkansas (196.250) and Iowa State (193.400) for their third straight title at the event. The trip to Texas is the first of four potential ones for the Sooners this season, with the next scheduled for Feb. 5 when OU competes at Texas Woman's University in Denton, Texas. The Big 12 Championship (Frisco) and NCAA Championships (Fort Worth) will also be held in the state of Texas.

TOPPING 197
OU has posted three straight 197-plus performances, scoring a 197.125 in a tri-meet with then-No. 11 California and Texas Woman's University, recording a 197.050 at No. 16 Arkansas and most recently scoring a season-high 197.475 against Iowa State and Arizona State last weekend. OU's 197.475 from last Friday stands as the second-best total in the country this season, and the Sooners join Florida and Alabama as the only schools to post a score of 197 or higher so far this season.

SOONER SWEEPS
For the past three meets, the Sooners have grabbed at least a share of each individual event title and the all-around. Senior Keeley Kmieciak has won three straight all-around titles, sharing the most recent one with teammate Chayse Capps. Securing event crowns in that stretch are Haley Scaman (VT twice, FX twice), AJ Jackson (VT three times, FX), Capps (VT, UB, BB), Kara Lovan (BB), McKenzie Wofford (UB three times) and Natalie Brown (BB).

RANKINGS UPDATE
As a team, OU is ranked in the top seven nationally on every event, including three No. 2 rankings. The Sooners remained at No. 2 on both vault (49.300) and beam (49.300) this week and rose to the second spot on bars (49.319). On floor, OU jumped a spot to tie for seventh with a 49.175 average. Individually, Keeley Kmieciak (7th AA, T-25th VT, 15th UB, 11th BB), Chayse Capps (15th AA, 5th BB), McKenzie Wofford (T-1st, UB), AJ Jackson (8th VT, T-17th FX), Haley Scaman (17th VT, T-7th FX) and Charity Jones (T-24th BB) are all ranked in the top 25.

A GLANCE AT NO. 6 LSU
LSU enters the Metroplex Challenge with a 3-0 record and are coming off a 196.575-195.100 victory over Kentucky. A trio of Tigers hold No. 1 rankings individually, including Ashleigh Gnat (VT), Lexie Priessman (UB, tied with OU's McKenzie Wofford) and Erin Macadaeg (FX). LSU is coached by D-D Breaux, who is in her 39th year at the helm of the program. The matchup between the Sooners and Tigers will be the second of the season, with LSU narrowly taking the season opener 196.950-196.725 in Baton Rouge, La.

A GLANCE AT NO. 12 STANFORD
Fresh off its season-best performance in its home opener when it scored a 196.675 against No. 23 California and San Jose State, Stanford comes into this weekend with a 6-1 overall record. Sophomore Elizabeth Price has won three straight all-around competitions and three consecutive Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week honors. Kristen Smyth is in her 15th season as the Cardinal head coach.

A GLANCE AT NO. 16 MISSOURI
Most recently, Missouri secured a 195.800-195.350 victory over then-No. 9 Georgia, its first-ever SEC dual win. Britney Ward has won two straight SEC honors, one Specialist of the Week and one Freshman of the Week. Shannon Welker is in his third season leading the Tigers.

A GLANCE AT WASHINGTON
Washington, who is led by 10th-year head coach Joanne Bowers, posted season-highs on beam and bars at Denver but fell 195.650-194.300. Senior Allison Northey is the No. 21 all-arounder in the country.

QUICK HITS

• Sophomore Natalie Brown was named the Big 12 Event Specialist of the Week on Jan. 26 after posting a career high on beam and season high on floor last weekend. OU has earned the specialist accolade each week this season, with junior McKenzie Wofford grabbing the first two such honors.
• Oklahoma returns eight previous NCAA All-Americans who own 15 total accolades: Chayse Capps (VT, BB), Maile'ana Kanewa (VT, FX), Kara Lovan (FX), Haley Scaman (VT, FX), Ali Jackson (VT), Charity Jones (VT), Keeley Kmieciak (UB, BB) and McKenzie Wofford (UB).
• Senior Haley Scaman, the two-time Big 12 Gymnast of the Year, enters this season as the only Sooner in program history to post multiple 10.0s in a career as well as 10.0s on multiple events. Scaman owns three perfect scores on floor and two on vault.
• OU's schedule includes 10 meets to be held in the states of Oklahoma or Texas, including five in Norman inside the Lloyd Noble Center.

UP NEXT

The Sooners compete in two meets next weekend, first heading to Texas Woman's University on Friday, Feb. 5. OU will also face No. 9 Auburn and Illinois State in the quad-meet. OU then returns home to host Big 12 opponent West Virginia at 1:45 p.m. CT on Sunday, Feb. 7 inside Lloyd Noble Center. Tickets are available for purchase online or by calling the OU Athletics Tickets Office at (405) 325-2424 or toll-free at (800) 456-GoOU.