Sooners Set for Arizona Quad Meet

Saturday, January 22

Tucson, AZ

5:00 PM

University of Oklahoma

Arizona

Photo by: Matthew Smith

January 21, 2022 | Women's Gymnastics

Watch Live Stats Meet Notes

4 Oklahoma

Arizona

Stanford

Utah State

Saturday, Jan. 22 / 5 p.m. CT / Tucson, Ariz. / McKale Center

Pac-12 Stream / Live Stats / Meet Notes

NOTES AND NUMBERS FOR MEET THREE

MEET BASICS
The No. 4 Oklahoma women's gymnastics team returns to action Saturday for a quad-meet hosted by Arizona. The Sooners will face the host Wildcats, along with Stanford and Utah State in Tucson, Ariz., at 5 p.m. CT. This is the first trip to Tucson for the Sooners since 2014 and will be the first of two times the Sooners will see Stanford this season. The meet was originally scheduled as a tri-meet with Arizona and Stanford. Due to Boise State being unable to compete at Utah State, the Aggies joined the meet marking the first time since the 2017 NCAA Regionals that the Sooners and Aggies have met in competition.

LOOKING BACK
In a tough road environment, the Sooners were topped by Utah, 197.775-196.650, on Jan. 14. Freshman Jordan Bowers had a strong meet, earning the vault title with a near-perfect 9.975. Sophomore Audrey Davis earned her second bars title of the season with a 9.925. Junior Ragan Smith took home the beam title with a near-perfect 9.975 to tie her career high.

The two teams were in a tight battle at the halfway point with the Red Rocks leading by just .025. A tough floor rotation and having to count a fall on beam for the Sooners allowed Utah to take the victory in their home arena. It was the first regular season loss for the Sooners since 2018 at Florida.

BOWERS, SIEVERS HONORED BY BIG 12
Freshmen Jordan Bowers and Danielle Sievers were named the Big 12 Gymnast of the Week and Newcomer of the Week, respectively, on Jan. 18. Bowers picked up her second-consecutive award after being named the Newcomer of the Week on Jan. 11, while Sievers picked up her first career honor.

Bowers had an impressive meet in a tough road environment against No. 4 Utah, earning the event title on vault with a near-perfect 9.975 for a career-high. She added a career-high on bars with a 9.900 and a personal best in the all-around with a 39.550, just narrowly being edged out of the title by Olympian Grace McCallum. The Lincoln, Nebraska native's all-around score was the highest in the Big 12 over the weekend. The freshman ranks ninth in the nation on bars after back-to-back weeks with a 9.9 on the event, which was the second-highest of the meet, just behind teammate Audrey Davis.

Sievers earned a career-high on bars with a 9.875 against the Utes. The freshman's score was crucial as it helped the Sooners tie with Utah after the first rotation. The native of Gary, South Dakota helped Oklahoma to a 49.450 on the event, a full tenth higher than Utah, and pushed OU to a No. 2 ranking on the apparatus.

MAKING MOVES
With the departure of three seniors from the 2021 season and athletes out due to injury, multiple Sooners have stepped up in big ways in the first two meets of the season. Five Sooners have made their collegiate debuts and two added events in the offseason.

Jordan Bowers, Danae Fletcher, Danielle Sievers, Meilin Sullivan and Sheridan Ramsey all made their debuts in weeks one and two. Bowers has competed the all-around, Sievers on bars and Fletcher, Sullivan and Ramsey all appeared in the vault lineup. Sievers and Fletcher are expected to appear on multiple events throughout the season.
Audrey Davis added floor in 2022 to become an all-around competitor after spending 2021 as a three-event gymnast. Carly Woodard has competed floor in the past two meets after competing on the apparatus just once in 2021.

IN THE POLLS
After the second weekend of competition, the Oklahoma women's gymnastics team is No. 4 in the nation with a 197.025 average. Michigan held on to the No. 1 spot with a 197.850 average. Utah jumped to No. 2 with a 197.438, followed by Florida with a 197.338. LSU, who did not compete over the weekend, rounded out the top five with a 196.950. On the events, OU holds the No. 2 spot on bars (49.463), No. 4 spot on floor (49.325) and vault (49.313) and No. 15 on beam (48.925).

NATIONAL RANKINGS
Six Sooners earned nine individual rankings with four gymnasts ranked in the top 10 on various. Freshman Jordan Bowers is ranked on three events coming in at No. 9 on bars (9.900 average), 15th on floor (9.912) and 20th in the all-around (39.300). Sophomore Audrey Davis is ranked No. 6 on bars (9.938) and No. 16 in the all-around (39.350). Katherine LeVasseur still holds the top spot on vault with a 9.975 average. On bars, Karrie Thomas is No. 15 (9.887) and Ragan Smith is tied for 16th (9.875). On beam, Jenna Dunn is tied for ninth with a 9.900 average.

KINDLER VS. THE PAC 12
In 16 seasons, Kindler is 65-23 against the Pac-12, including a 30-2 advantage over the last five seasons. Over the past three years, the Sooners are 15-1 against Pac-12 schools.The Sooners will face five Pac-12 schools during the 2022 season including Utah (Jan. 14), Arizona (Jan. 22), Stanford (Jan. 22 & Feb. 19), Washington (Feb. 19) and Arizona State (March 11). In 2021, the Sooners were 4-0 against the Pac-12.

SCOUTING ARIZONA
The Wildcats posted a 195.500 in their season opener against Southern Utah on Jan. 14. Arizona has a familiar face on its coaching staff as former Sooner and 2014 NCAA Beam Champion Taylor Spears is currently in her fourth season as an assistant coach. The Wildcats have competed just once in 2022 as their season-opening meet at the Collegiate Challenge was cancelled due to COVID issues amongst competing teams.

SCOUTING STANFORD
Stanford enters the meet coming off a narrow loss to Cal in its season opener. Stanford opened the season with a 196.275 and nearly tied Cal until a last-minute score change gave them a .05-point victory. The Cardinal boast the Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week in Kyla Bryant who took home three event titles, including the all-around with an NCAA-best score of 39.675. Wesley Stephenson was named the Pac-12 Coaches Choice after returning to competition for the first time since 2020.

SCOUTING UTAH STATE
The Aggies are 3-1 on the year with the lone loss coming at the Best of Utah meet to in-state rival Utah. The Aggies are coming off a win over Air Force last weekend and are ranked No. 22 in the latest polls. Utah State sophomore Eve Jackson tallied a 9.900 on the uneven bars to finish first on the event in the Aggies' 194.950-191.975 home-opening victory against Air Force. Jackson's score on the event was tops in the MRGC this week as she earned MRGC Bars Specialist of the Week honors. Brie Clark captured her second-straight MRGC Floor Specialist of the Week honor after finishing first on the event with a 9.950, which is tied for third all-time in school history.

QUICK HITS

OU was ranked No. 3 in the WCGA preseason coaches poll, the seventh-straight season the Sooners have been ranked in the top three to begin the year.
10 of OU's regular season opponents are ranked in the poll, including three squads in the top 5 and five in the top 10 and seven in the top 25.
Oklahoma's roster this season features 14 returning gymnasts from the 2021 squad including four who combined for nine All-America honors in seniors Olivia Trautman and Allie Stern, junior Ragan Smith and sophomore Audrey Davis.
The Sooners will be featured on ESPN networks five times during the regular season: vs. Alabama (Jan. 9), at Utah (Jan. 14), vs. Denver (Jan. 30), vs. Michgan (March 4), at Big 12 Championship (March 19).

UP NEXT

The Sooners will return to the friendly confines of Lloyd Noble Center for a conference matchup with No. 6 Denver. The meet is set for a 3:45 p.m. CT start on ESPN.