Today: Sooners Vie for Fifth NCAA Title

Oklahoma

Florida

Michigan

Utah

Saturday, April 17 / 2:30 p.m. CT / Fort Worth, Texas / Dickies Arena

NOTES AND NUMBERS FOR THE NCAA FINALS

FOUR ON THE FLOOR
For the eighth straight season and 10^th time overall, the Oklahoma women's gymnastics team will compete in the NCAA team finals. A change from the Super Six to the Four on the Floor beginning in 2019, the Sooners will compete in the finals of the NCAA Championship at 2:30 p.m. CT on Saturday afternoon against Florida, Michigan and Utah. In the finals, the Sooners will rotate in Olympic order beginning on vault.

ON THE AIR
The Four on the Floor will air live on ABC and will also be available on WatchESPN and the ESPN app. Online viewers will be able to stream each individual apparatus or a quad-box view called "All-Around," which presents a streaming view of each event live at the same time on one screen. U.S. Olympic Medalists Bart Conner and Kathy Johnson Clarke will call the action.

GIVE HER THE CROWN
Senior Anastasia Webb earned three individual titles on Friday night taking home the all-around, vault and floor championships. The Morton Grove, Ill., native tallied a 39.7875 to take home the all-around title and made it threes-straight years that a Sooner has won. Webb is the third ever Sooner to win the all-around joining Nichols (2018, 2019) and Kelly Garrison (1988). Webb also joins Nichols and former Sooner Brenna Dowell as champion on vault and floor. Dowell won floor in 2019 and vault in 2018 and Nichols won floor in 2018 and vault in 2019.

ELITE 90 AWARD WINNER
Junior Emma LaPinta was the recipient of the Elite 90 award for the 2021 NCAA Division 1 Women's Gymnastics Championship. LaPinta, majoring in communications, currently carries a 4.0 GPA. LaPinta was presented with the award after the Sooners competed in the NCAA Semifinals in Fort Worth, Texas.The Elite 90, an award founded by the NCAA, recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers. The Elite 90 is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's championships.

REIGNING CHAMPIONS
With no championship in 2020, the Sooners have held on as the reigning champs after earning their fourth national title in 2019. OU dominated the first Four on the Floor and capped off the meet with a near-perfect 9.9875 vault from Brenna Dowell. The 2019 season was dedicated to Dave Richardson, the late husband of athletic trainer Jenn Richardson. The Sooners motto of Do it for Dave was carried throughout the postseason.

The Sooners have won four of the last seven national championships, including back-to-back titles in 2016 and 2017. OU's first national title was won in 2014.

POSTSEASON SUCCESS
Postseason has become a strength of the Sooners under head coach K.J. Kindler. Since 2010, OU owns nine seasons in which it has captured a conference and regional championship in the same season, accomplishing the feat in 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2010. Despite coming in second at the 2021 Big 12 Championship, the Sooners claimed their 11th straight regional title at the Tuscaloosa Regional. The Sooners have advanced to the NCAA Championships 20 times in program history and every season dating back to 2004. OU has never missed NCAA competition under Kindler's leadership.

IN GOOD COMPANY
OU is one of only three teams in the nation to advance to the NCAA Championship every season since 2004, joining LSU and Utah. The Sooners will compete against both the Tigers and Red Rocks in the second semifinal.

LONE STAR SOONERS
With the Sooners vying for a title in Fort Worth, Texas, a handful of Sooners will find themselves back at home for the national championship. Of the six Texas natives on the roster, five hail from the DFW Metroplex with Jordan Draper growing up just 19 minutes away from Dickies Arena.

Audrey Davis (Plano), Draper (Bedford), Erin Hutchison (Plano), Emma LaPinta (Frisco), Katherine LeVasseur (San Antonio) and Ragan Smith (Lewisville) all hail from the state of Texas. Draper trained at Empire Gymnastics, Davis and Hutchison at WOGA, LaPinta at Kurt Thomas, LeVassuer at Mavericks Gymnastics and Smith at Texas Dreams.