WGYM Heads South for Metroplex Challenge

3 Oklahoma

Denver

Stanford

Washington

Saturday, Feb. 19 / 6:45 p.m. CT / Fort Worth, Texas / Fort Worth Convention Center

NORMAN – The No. 3 Oklahoma gymnastics team is headed south of the Red River for the annual Metroplex Challenge Saturday night. The podium quad meet will feature a Big 12/PAC-12 battle with OU, Denver, Stanford and Washington taking part. The meet is slated for a 6:45 p.m. CT start inside the Fort Worth Convention Center.

NOTES AND NUMBERS FOR MEET SEVEN

DID IT FOR DAVE
Saturday marks the three-year anniversary of the passing of Dave Richardson, the late husband of athletic trainer Jenn Richardson. Over the past four seasons, the team has worn blue ribbons in their hair and blue ribbon stickers on their backs to continue to honor Dave who passed in 2019 from colon cancer. The Sooners won the national title in 2019, dedicating their season to Dave with the hashtag #DIFD - Do It For Dave.

SEEING DOUBLE
The Sooners are seeing two opponents for the second time this season at the Metroplex Challenge. OU faced Stanford in a quad meet at Arizona, defeating the Cardinal 197.900-195.725. Denver came to Norman on Jan. 30 with the Sooners coming out on top in the conference clash. OU took the win 198.200-196.625. OU will see Denver once more this season at the Big 12 Championship on March 19.

KINDLER VS. THE BIG 12
In 16 seasons, Kindler is 85-5 against current and former members of the Big 12 (not including regionals and NCAA Championships). Against current members of league (Denver, Iowa State, West Virginia), Kindler is undefeated in the regular season with a 45-0 record. At the Big 12 Championships, she is undefeated against Iowa State (14-0) and West Virginia (8-0) and 4-1 against Denver.

KINDLER VS. THE PAC 12
In 16 seasons, Kindler is 67-23 against the Pac-12, including a 32-2 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.

KEEP ON ROLLING
For the second week in a row, Ragan Smith was perfect on beam to lead the Sooners to a 197.425-194.925 win over George Washington Feb. 11. Smith is the first Sooner since Maggie Nichols in 2018 to post back-to-back perfect scores on beam and the first since Nichols (vault) and Olivia Trautman (vault) in 2020 to earn back-to-back 10.0s on any event. With the perfect score, Smith earned her fourth beam title of the season. A Sooner has now earned a perfect score in every home meet this season.

Audrey Davis and Danielle Sievers shared the vault title with matching 9.9s. Jordan Bowers earned the bars title with a career-high 9.95. On floor, Carly Woodard and Danae Fletcher shared floor with 9.925s. Davis took home the all-around title, her fourth of the season with a career best 39.625.

IN THE POLLS
The Oklahoma women's gymnastics team dropped one spot to No. 3 after the sixth week of competition with a 197.604 average. Michigan holds the No. 1 spot with a 197.963 mark, followed by Florida who jumped up to No. 2 with a 197.638. Utah comes in at No. 4 with a 197.496 average and LSU rounds out the top five with a 197.400. On the events, the Sooners are ranked No. 1 on bars (49.513), No. 5 on beam (49.304) and floor (49.479) and No. 6 on vault (49.308).

NATIONAL RANKINGS
Individually, six athletes hold nine event rankings with a trio of Sooners ranked on two events. Katherine LeVasseur is ranked No. 2 on both vault (9.935) and beam (9.942). Audrey Davis is No. 2 on bars (9.938) and 18th in the all-around (39.465). Jordan Bowers is No. 13 on bars (9.904) and No. 15 on floor (9.921). Danielle Sievers vaulted for the first time on Friday and appeared in the rankings at No. 12 with a 9.900. Karrie Thomas is ranked 19th on bars with a 9.894 average and Jenna Dunn is 24th on beam with a 9.883 mark.

CLOUD 9.9
Through four weeks of the season, the Sooners have posted 69 scores of 9.9 or higher. With 144 routines competed, that means 48 percent of the routines have scored a 9.9 or higher this season. OU has put up double-digit marks of 9.9 or higher in five of six meets this season, including a season-best 15 against George Washington on Feb. 11.

TOP TOTALS
Of the nation's top totals this season, the Sooners hold two of the top four scores and three of the top 10 marks. OU is one of just two teams to hit the 198 mark twice, holding the No. 3 spot (198.200) and No. 5 spot (198.050). OU also holds the No. 10 spot with a 197.900. Three other schools are represented in the top 10 with Michigan, Florida and LSU all represented. Michigan holds four spots, Florida holds two and LSU holds one.

PERFECTION IN THE LNC
Katherine LeVasseur and Allie Stern went back-to-back with perfect 10s on vault on Jan. 9 in the home opener. The duo joined an exclusive club with their back-to-back perfection as just the fourth pair to achieve the feat. In 2021, Anastasia Webb and Evy Schoepfer went back-to-back with perfect scores on vault. In 2018, Webb earned a perfect 10 on balance beam and was followed by a perfect score from Maggie Nichols. McKenzie Wofford and Nicole Lehrmann went back-to-back on uneven bars in 2017. This was the first time since the 2019 season that a Sooner earned a perfect score in the first meet of the season. In 2019, Maggie Nichols earned a perfect 10 on vault at Arkansas to open the season.

On Jan. 30, Carly Woodard added another perfect 10 as she earned her first career perfect score on balance beam. Woodard, who returned for a fifth season, has had multiple 9.95s in her career but couldn't quite reach the elusive mark of perfection. On Feb. 6, Ragan Smith was perfect on balance beam, earning the first perfect 10 of her career and followed that up a week later with her second perfect 10 on the event. The Sooners now have five perfect 10s this season: three on beam and two on vault.

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.