Sooners Begin NCAA Competition in Minneapolis

No. 1 Oklahoma at NCAA Minneapolis Regional

No. 12 Kentucky, No. 13 Denver, No. 24 Minnesota, Iowa State, Iowa
April 7 | 4 p.m. CT | Minneapolis, Minn. | Paul

Notes

NOTES AND NUMBERS FOR MEET 13

WIN AND ADVANCE
On Saturday, the Sooners will look to continue their NCAA Regional success under head coach K.J. Kindler. Since 2010, the Sooners own eight consecutive regional championships and 32 individual event championships. In the 2018 NCAA Minneapolis Regional, the Sooners will face No. 12 Kentucky, No. 13 Denver, No. 24 Minnesota, Iowa State and Iowa. With a top-two finish, the Sooners would advance to their 15th straight NCAA Championships.

2017 REGIONAL RECAP
Last year, OU captured the NCAA Seattle Regional with a 198.075. The Sooners posted the top team score on all four events and secured at least a share of four event titles. Maggie Nichols won the all-around honor (39.750) and floor title (9.95), while sharing the beam crown with teammate Chayse Capps (9.95) and the vault title with teammate AJ Jackson (9.95)

QUEENS OF THE HILL
For the fourth consecutive season, Oklahoma is the nation's No. 1 overall seed heading into NCAA competition. The Sooners hold an NCAA and program-record 198.120 regional qualifying score (RQS). OU began it's 2018 campaign as the top team in the preseason rankings and kept that top ranking all season long. This is the seventh straight season the Sooners have finished within the top two of the regular season national rankings based on RQS.

ROTATION ORDER
	VAULT	BYE	BARS	BEAM	BYE	FLOOR
1.	Iowa	Minnesota	Iowa State	Kentucky	Denver	OKLAHOMA
2.	OKLAHOMA	Iowa	Minnesota	Iowa State	Kentucky	Denver
3.	Denver	OKLAHOMA	Iowa	Minnesota	Iowa Sate	Kentucky
4.	Kentucky	Denver	OKLAHOMA	Iowa	Minnesota	Iowa State
5.	Iowa State	Kentucky	Denver	OKLAHOMA	Iowa	Minnesota
6.	Minnesota	Iowa State	Kentucky	Denver	OKLAHOMA	Iowa

ALL-AMERICA STATUS
Five members of the No. 1 Oklahoma women's gymnastics team combined to secure 10 regular season All-America honors from the National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches/Women (NACGC/W). In the six years that regular season All-America accolades have been awarded, Oklahoma has totaled double-digit honors five times. Senior AJ Jackson, juniors Brenna Dowell and Nicole Lehrmann, sophomore Maggie Nichols and freshman Anastasia Webb all received recognition from the association. Nichols secured five first-team honors, earning recognition on all four events and in the all-around.

NOT A 197 IN SIGHT
When it comes to gymnastics rankings, regional qualifying scores (RQS) reign supreme. This season, the Sooners set an NCAA and program record with a whopping RQS of 198.120 after their regular season finale. OU is the first school to factor in six counting scores of 198 or higher in NCAA history. This marks the second consecutive season that OU has entered the postseason with an RQS of 198 or higher.

HISTORY VS. THE FIELD
Of its five opponents in the 2018 NCAA Minneapolis Regional field Oklahoma holds an all-time winning record against each. The Sooners are a combined 133-30-1 against teams in the field, including a perfect 7-0 mark against Kentucky. OU also leads the all-time series with Denver (38-8), Iowa (17-2), Iowa State (58-19-1) and Minnesota (13-1).

IN GOOD COMPANY
OU is one of only five teams in the nation to advance to the NCAA Championships every season since 2004, along with Alabama, Florida, LSU and Utah. OU will try to extend that streak with a top-two finish in Saturday's Regional meet.

MATCHUPS AT A GLANCE
	OU	KENTUCKY	DENVER	MINNESOTA	IOWA STATE	IOWA
Record	16-1-0	7-7-0	18-5-1	16-10-0	9-15-0	10-12-0
Ranking	No. 1	No. 12	No. 13	No. 24	No. 28	No. 35
RQS	198.120	196.800	196.785	196.250	196.045	195.775
Average	197.850	196.469	196.496	195.745	195.752	195.231
High	198.375	197.100	197.300	196.675	196.700	196.400

RETURNING REGIONAL CHAMPS
Of the Sooners on the 2018 squad, four have at least one individual regional title to their names. Senior AJ Jackson has three total titles (vault in 2015 and 2017, floor in 2016), while senior Natalie Brown and junior Nicole Lehrmann shared the beam title in 2016. Sophomore Maggie Nichols has four, winning the vault, beam, floor and all-around titles in 2017.

AAI FINALIST
Oklahoma's AJ Jackson has been named one of 10 finalists for the prestigious AAI Award, recognizing the most outstanding senior female gymnast in the country. The honor is voted on by NCAA women's gymnastics head coaches and sponsored by American Athletic, Inc. (AAI). The AAI Award is considered one of the highest honors given in the sport of women's gymnastics. Jackson is Oklahoma's seventh consecutive finalist for the award, joining Megan Ferguson (2012), Brie Olson (2013), Taylor Spears (2014), Erica Brewer (2015), Haley Scaman (2016) and Chayse Capps (2017). Jackson is joined by nine additional finalists including Kennedy Baker (Florida), Brianna Brown (Michigan), Dani Dessaints (Oregon State), Cami Drouin-Allaire (George Washington), Myia Hambrick (LSU), Alex McMurtry (Florida), Christine Peng-Peng Lee (UCLA), Elizabeth Price (Stanford), Kiana Winston (Alabama).

SUPER BEAM SUNDAY
February 4 may have been the Super Bowl, but the Sooners were putting on a show on ESPN and setting records in the process. With a beam score of 49.775, Oklahoma set a school-record topping its previous total of 49.750 set in 2015. Maggie Nichols and Anastasia Webb each recorded a perfect 10.0 on the event marking the second time in program history that two athletes scored a 10.0 on the same event in one meet (Nicole Lehrmann, McKenzie Wofford at TWU, Feb. 26, 2017). Webb is just the third Sooner to score a 10.0 on beam.

SETTING THE BAR HIGH
The Sooners set another program record in 2018 with an incredible 49.725 on bars at the Big 12 Championships. The Sooners counted five scores of 9.9 or higher, including four scores of 9.95 or higher. Junior Nicole Lehrmann was incredible and just shy of perfection with a 9.975 to lead the team. Catour set a career high with a 9.950 in the No. 3 spot. Nichols and Dowell each added 9.95s with stunning routines. Webb added a 9.900 in the leadoff spot, pacing the Sooners to a huge total from the very beginning.

QUICK HITS

• Four current Sooners have scored perfect 10.0s in their careers, including Brenna Dowell (UB, 2015; VT, 2018), Nicole Lehrmann (UB, 2017), Maggie Nichols (VT [four times], UB, BB [six times], FX [twice], 2017 and 2018) and Anastasia Webb (BB, 2018). The Sooners have tallied eight perfect scores this season.

• In 2017, the Sooners earned 22 total Big 12 weekly awards, sweeping the awards three times.

• Fourteen of OU's scores this season are currently in the top 10 in program history, including three team totals, one vault score, three scores on both bars and beam and four floor scores.

• Twelve of OU's scores this season are currently in the top 10 in program history, including two team totals, three vault scores, two scores on bars, four beam scores and one floor scores. The Sooners also set program records on bars and beam.

• The Sooners swept the Big 12 Yearly Awards for the fourth-time with Maggie Nichols (Gymnast of the Year), Stefani Catour (Event Specialist of the Year) and Anastasia Webb (Co-Newcomer of the Year) all being recognized by the conference. Head coach K.J. Kindler was honored as the Coach of the Year for the 12th time in her career and ninth at Oklahoma.

UP NEXT

This weekend's competition begins the Sooners' road to St. Louis, Mo., and the 2018 NCAA Championships meet. The top two finishing teams from each NCAA regional will advance to the 2018 NCAA Championships in St. Louis, Mo. The meet is set for April 20-21 in Chaifetz Arena. Semifinal competition will take place on April 20 and the Super Six team finals are set for April 21. Should Oklahoma qualify to the championship meet, it is positioned to compete in Semifinal II on April 20 with teams from the University Park and Salt Lake City Regionals.