Top-Ranked Sooners Ready to Fight for Big 12 Title

NORMAN – The No. 1-ranked Oklahoma women's gymnastics team will compete at the Big 12 Championship on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT inside WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, W. Va. The meet will air live on ESPNU and will also feature No. 13 Denver, Iowa State and West Virginia. John Roethlisberger (play-by-play), Bridget Sloan (analyst) and Taylor Davis (floor reporter) will announce.

Live stats will also be available through WVU's StatBroadcast page for fans to follow the action. The Sooners will be vying for their 14th Big 12 championship, 13th under 17th-year head coach K.J. Kindler and 10th in the last 11 years.

BACK-TO-BACK 'BIG 12 STYLE'

The Sooners will look to earn their second straight Big 12 championship after bringing the conference title back to Norman in 2022. OU posted a 198.200 in Denver last year to beat Denver (197.250), West Virginia (196.650) and Iowa State (196.100). Prior to the 2021 season, the Sooners had won an unprecedented eight consecutive Big 12 titles, becoming the first program to win eight in a row.

The Sooners own 18 conference titles (five Big Eight, 13 Big 12) in their history and 12 Big 12 titles under 17th-year head coach K.J. Kindler. Before moving to the Big Ten Conference, former Big 12 member Nebraska earned nine Big 12 titles (1997-99, 2001-03, 2005, 2007, 2011). Iowa State has won two Big 12 crowns, including in 2006 when Kindler was at the helm. Denver won its first Big 12 championship in 2021 in Morgantown, W. Va.

LEADING THE WAY

Six Sooners combined to capture a conference-leading 11 spots on the 2023 All-Big 12 Gymnastics Team this week. This season marks the 15th straight year OU has led the league in All-Big 12 selections and the 14th consecutive season it has produced at least eight honorees on the All-Big 12 team. The Sooners occupied at least the top two spots on all four events, including a sweep on vault.

Sophomore Jordan Bowers led all honorees with five selections. Bowers joined Kasie Tamayo and Maggie Nichols as the only Sooners to achieve this feat. The Lincoln, Neb., native earned her second career All-Big 12 honor on vault, bars and floor, and first on beam and in the all-around. Bowers ranks first in the Big 12 in the all-around and on beam, and second on vault, bars and floor.

Senior Ragan Smith is now up to seven career honors with a nod on beam (her third) and bars (her second) in 2023. Juniors Audrey Davis and Katherine LeVasseur, sophomore Danielle Sievers and freshman Faith Torrez each picked up honors as well. Davis earned her third consecutive accolade on bars, while LeVasseur picked up her fourth career honor with her second nod on vault. Sievers and Torrez each earned their first career recognition on vault and floor, respectively. The trio of Davis, LeVasseur and Torrez leads the conference on their respective events.

SOONERS SWEEP FINAL BIG 12 WEEKLY AWARDS

A trio of Sooners swept the final Big 12 Weekly Awards, the conference announced Tuesday. Ragan Smith was named Gymnast of the Week, Katherine LeVasseur was Event Specialist of the Week and Faith Torrez was named Newcomer of the Week.

It marked the fifth time this season Oklahoma swept the weekly conference honors. Four of five gymnasts who earned earn multiple weekly conference accolades this season are Sooners: Torrez (seven), Bowers (four), LeVasseur (two) and sophomore Danielle Sievers (two).

Smith notched her seventh career weekly league honor and second career Big 12 Gymnast of the Week accolade. The last time Smith earned a weekly conference award was on Feb. 8, 2022. The Lewisville, Texas, native shined on her senior day on Sunday against No. 14 Arizona State, winning her 14th career beam title (9.975) and 11th on floor (career-high-tying 9.975).

LeVasseur's third Big 12 Event Specialist of the Week accolade marked her fifth career weekly league honor and third this season. She earned her third career perfect 10 on vault (second in three weeks) and 12th career event title. LeVasseur was the only Big 12 gymnast last weekend to earn a perfect score on any event and one of just three gymnasts nationally.

Torrez earned a league-best seventh weekly Big 12 honor, the most by any gymnast this season and tied for the most by a Sooner in any season. The freshman became the fifth Sooner rack up seven single-season weekly honors, joining Kiara Redmond, Maggie Nichols and teammates Olivia Trautman and Jordan Bowers. Torrez earned career highs on beam (9.975) and floor (9.950), and returned to the bars lineup for the first time since Feb. 24 with a 9.875.

THE NATION'S BEST

After posting the nation's highest score last weekend, Oklahoma finished the regular season atop the standings with a National Qualifying Score (NQS) of 198.300. The Sooners have held the top spot all 10 weeks of the regular season, including the past four weeks since rankings were determined by NQS. OU holds the highest NQS in NCAA women's college gymnastics history with a 198.300.

With just the Big 12 Championship remaining, OU will once again carry an NQS of 198-plus heading into the postseason. The only other two schools with an NQS of at least 198 are Michigan (198.045) and Florida (198.015). Pac-12 members UCLA and Utah rank No. 4 (197.940) and No. 5 (197.845), respectively.

For the seventh consecutive week, OU is ranked in the top three nationally on each of the four events, including No. 1 on vault (49.540) and bars (49.650). The Sooners remain second on beam (49.590) and third on floor (49.580).

IN THE POLLS

Six Sooners earned a total of 13 individual top-25 rankings this week, with at least one gymnast ranked in the top 10 on all four events and in the all-around. Four of six gymnasts who competed on bars over the weekend are ranked in the top 25 in NQS. OU registered six individual career-high performances last Sunday, including three on floor and a perfect 10 from junior Katherine LeVasseur on vault.

Sophomore Jordan Bowers ranks in the top 10 on all four events and in the all-around, including sixth on beam (9.950 NQS) and in the all-around (39.670 NQS). She is also tied for eighth on vault (9.920), ninth on floor (9.945) and 10th on bars (9.945). Last Sunday, Bowers earned two individual titles to move her into the OU record book, tied for 10th-most career individual wins (38) with Sooner Legend Hollie Vise.

Junior Audrey Davis jumped into the all-around standings for the first time since NQS determined national rankings starting with week seven. Davis is tied for 24th in the all-around with a 39.485 NQS and sixth nationally on bars with a 9.960.

LeVasseur and freshman Faith Torrez also boast top-10 rankings this week. LeVasseur remains No. 4 with an NQS score of 9.945 after earning her fourth vault title this season with a perfect score against Arizona State. Torrez is tied for seventh overall on floor with a 9.950 NQS and has been the top freshman nationally on the event the past four weeks (since NQS determined national rankings).

Senior Ragan Smith and sophomore Danielle Sievers also add top-20 rankings for week 10. Smith had a memorable Senior Day and is ranked No. 12 on beam (9.935 NQS) and No. 18 on bars (9.925). Leading off the vault and bars lineup, Sievers sits at No. 15 (9.910) and No. 23 (9.920), respectively.

HIGH-FIVE TO PERFECT10N

Oklahoma has registered five perfect 10s this season by four different gymnasts on three events. Junior Katherine LeVasseur is the only Sooner this season to score multiple perfect 10s (on vault against West Virginia on Feb. 24 and vs. No. 14 Arizona State on March 12). LeVasseur now ranks fifth in program history in career perfect 10s (three), tied with teammate Ragan Smith and NCAA individual champions Brenna Dowell and Nicole Lehrmann. She ranks 12th in OU history with her seven career vault titles.

Smith earned her third career 10.0 in OU's conference victory at then-No. 9 Denver on Jan. 29. The Lewisville, Texas, native was the first Sooner to earn a perfect 10 in 2023. Last season, she earned back-to-back perfect scores on beam against Texas Woman's (Feb. 6) and George Washington (Feb. 11).

Alongside LeVasseur, sophomore Jordan Bowers earned her second career perfect 10 against West Virginia on Feb. 24, which was her first on floor. Bowers earned OU's first perfect 10 on floor since teammate Olivia Trautman on Feb. 15, 2019. She is tied for eighth in program history for career perfect 10.0 scores with Chayse Capps and Kiara Redmond.

For the first time since Smith last season, the Sooners earned perfect 10s in back-to-back weeks. Following Bowers and LeVasseur on Feb. 24, Trautman was perfect on vault as OU won against No. 2 Florida on March 3. The 10.0 was Trautman's first since the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional Final on April 3, 2021. It also marked Trautman's fifth career perfect 10 and fourth on vault. She is now tied for second in program history for career perfect 10.0 scores with Haley Scaman and 2021 NCAA vault champion Anastasia Webb.

A SENIOR DAY TO REMEMBER

Fueled by a meet-ending 49.750 — the second-highest score on floor in program history — and a perfect 10 on vault by junior Katherine LeVasseur, the No. 1-ranked Sooners posted a 198.400-195.925 home win over No. 14 Arizona State on Senior Day on Sunday. The team score was the third-highest score in the country this year and tied for the seventh-best total in program history.

The Sooners also swept the individual standings on all four events and in the all-around. LeVasseur's vault title was the 12th of her career and fourth this season. Sophomore Jordan Bowers (season high) and super senior Olivia Trautman (career high) shared the bars title with a pair of 9.950s. It marked the first bars title for Trautman in her career.

Senior Ragan Smith took home a pair of individual titles on beam and floor with a 9.975 on each. Her floor score matched a career high. Freshman Faith Torrez captured her first career beam title (shared with Smith).

Bowers also secured her seventh career all-around crown and sixth this season with a 39.625. It moved her up to eighth in the OU record book in single-season all-around titles and sixth for a career. With her fourth score of 39.500-plus in the all-around, junior Audrey Davis finished second with a 39.500.

TO 198 AND BEYOND

Oklahoma has totaled 60 scores of 198 or better in program history, including 52 scores since 2016. Of those 52, only 21 have been earned at home with the other 31 coming at road or neutral sites. Seventeen of those scores have come in regional or nationals competition, including a 198.475 mark at the 2019 NCAA Athens Regional Final. The Sooners surpassed their own nation's-best score this season with a program-record 198.575 against West Virginia on Feb. 24. Last season, OU matched an NCAA record with 10 scores of 198 or better in a single season, which the Sooners first accomplished in 2018. They have done it six times this year.

The Sooners currently hold the top spot with back-to-back NQS's above the 198-mark and six straight 198-plus averages this season. Before the Florida meet on March 3, OU earned five consecutive scores of 198 or higher. OU holds the best scores nationally at home (198.575), on the road (198.425 at Denver on Jan. 29) and at a neutral site (198.125 at the Metroplex Challenge on Feb. 11). Eleven teams have hit 198-plus this season, including nine teams in the top 10. Three of OU's opponents have posted multiple scores of 198 or higher, including No. 2 Michigan with four, No. 3 Florida earning three, and No. 4 UCLA, No. 5 Utah and No. 6 LSU with two each.

CLOUD 9.9

Through 10 weeks of the season, the Sooners have posted 151 scores of 9.900 or higher. With 262 routines competed, that means 57.6 percent of the routines have scored at least a 9.9 this season. OU has put up double-digit marks of 9.9 or higher in 10 of 11 meets this season, including a season-high 17 vs. West Virginia on Feb. 24.

KINDLER VS. THE BIG 12

In 17 seasons, head coach K.J. Kindler is 92-5 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 49-0 record. At the Big 12 Championship, she is 15-0 against Iowa State, 9-0 vs. West Virginia and 5-1 against Denver.

SCOUTING THE BIG 12 CONFERENCE

No. 13 Denver (10-6, 2-2 Big 12): The Pioneers eclipsed the 198 mark for the first time in program history in their 198.150-195.950 win against Towson on March 5. Denver also holds the best score in the nation on floor this season with a 49.825, which broke a 20-year record for the program. Individually, a pair of Pioneers earned perfect scores this season — junior Jessica Hutchinson (beam and floor) and Lynnzee Brown (floor). The perfect marks were a career first for Hutchinson, while it was Brown's first since her season-ending Achilles injury in 2022. The Pioneers claimed their only Big 12 team title in 2021 at West Virginia.
West Virginia (12-9, 1-2 Big 12): Saturday will mark the third time in program history the Mountaineers will host the Big 12 Championship with the previous two in 2014 and 2021. On its March 5 Senior Day, West Virginia recorded the third-highest team score in program history (197.325) to top Pitt and Central Michigan inside WVU Coliseum. The Mountaineers' season highs on vault (49.425) and beam (49.475) marked their highest total on the events since March 20, 2004 and March 9, 2004, respectively. Individually, senior Emily Holmes-Hackerd is tied for 24th in the nation on floor after earning seven scores over 9.900 this season, including four straight to end the regular season.
Iowa State (8-7, 0-3 Big 12): The Cyclones' season-high came during Senior Night on Feb. 24, where they came up short against Denver, 197.275-196.300, but ended their regular season with six career individual highs at UCLA on March 11. In the national rankings, senior Maddie Diab is in a four-way tie for 20th on floor. She has posted eight scores of 9.9-plus on floor this season, including a career-high 9.950 twice.

THE ROAD TO NATIONALS

The road to the NCAA Championships in Fort Worth, Texas, will make a journey through Norman and Lloyd Noble Center in 2023. OU is one of four NCAA Regional host sites this season, meaning the Sooners will have a home-floor advantage during the three-day regional competition. This will be the fifth time for the Sooners to host a regional (also in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2022). OU has won all four regional championships held at the LNC.

The NCAA Norman Regional will be held from March 29-April 1 and all-session tickets are on sale now for as low as $10 for each of the three sessions. The teams will be announced during the NCAA selection show next Monday at 11 a.m. CT.

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