NCAA Title Hunt Begins Thursday in Fort Worth

Thursday, April 16

Fort Worth, Texas

8 PM

University of Oklahoma

UCLA

NCAA Title Hunt Begins Thursday in Fort Worth

April 15, 2026 | Women's Gymnastics

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NORMAN — The No. 1 Oklahoma women's gymnastics team seeks its eighth national title this weekend at the NCAA Championships at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. The Sooners will compete in Semifinal II with No. 4 UCLA, No. 9 Arkansas and No. 13 Minnesota at 8 p.m. CT Thursday.

The first semifinal session will be held at 3:30 p.m. CT Thursday and include No. 2 LSU, No. 3 Florida, No. 6 Georgia and No. 7 Stanford. Both semifinal sessions will be televised on ESPN2, with John Roethlisberger, Sam Peszek, Aly Raisman annd Taylor Davis (floor reporter) on the call. The top two teams from each semifinal will advance to Four on the Floor, which is set for 3 p.m. Saturday on ABC.

POSTSEASON SUCCESS

Postseason has been a strength of the Sooners under 20-year head coach K.J. Kindler. Since 2010, OU has won a conference (regular season or tournament) and regional championship in the same season 14 times, accomplishing the feat in 2010, 2012-2019 and 2022-2026.

The Sooners have advanced to the NCAA Championship 25 times in program history, including every season dating back to 2004. OU has never missed NCAA competition under Kindler's leadership. Since 2016, the Sooners have placed in the top two in nine of 10 seasons and won national titles in 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2025.

QUICK FLIPS

- The Sooners have hit 355 of 360 routines this season for a hit percentage of .986. Six athletes are perfect on the season and of those, two have competed in every meet in 2026.

- Oklahoma is the only team nationally to score a 49.600-plus at least once on all four events this season.

- Senior Faith Torrez holds a 97 percent hit rate (60-of-63) on beam throughout her career. Half of her routines have resulted in a 9.95-plus, including three career perfect 10.0s and two this season (SEC Championships, NCAA Lexington Regional Final).

LUCKY IN LEXINGTON

Oklahoma won its 16th straight regional title with a first-place finish at the NCAA Lexington Regional. The Sooners posted a 198.350 in the regional final, their fourth highest regional score in program history. Freshman Ella Murphy and sophomore Lily Pederson secured a pair of regional titles, sharing bars with matching scores of 9.95.

In the regional final, OU earned its highest beam score of the season (49.750)and second highest in regional competition. The mark was also the sixth score of 49.700 on any event at regionals in program history. Faith Torrez earned a perfect 10 on the event — her second of the year and second in regional competition — to anchor the rotation.

TOP OF THE PODIUM

In addition to determining the squads competing in Four on the Floor, Thursday's semifinals will serve to crown individual national champions. The highest event and all-around score from both sessions will determine individual national champions. OU has had 10 gymnasts combine for 22 individual NCAA titles, with 18 coming since 2014.

The Sooners have had an individual champion in four of the last five seasons. Jordan Bowers won the all-around in 2025 and Audrey Davis joined Faith Torrez as co-national champions on beam, while also winning the uneven bars title. Torrez also claimed the beam title in 2024. Olivia Trautman was the 2023 vault champion and Anastasia Webb won a trio of titles (vault, floor, all-around) in 2021. Since Taylor Spears in 2014, the Sooners have claimed an individual crown in eight of 12 seasons.

ALL-AMERICAN SOONERS

Six members of the No. 1 Oklahoma women's gymnastics team combined to secure eight regular season All-America honors from the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association. Senior Faith Torrez, junior Keira Wells, sophomores Addison Fatta and Elle Mueller, and freshmen Mackenzie Estep and Ella Murphy all received regular season All-America recognition.

Fatta earned first team recognition in the all-around and on vault. Estep earned two honors in her first season, notching first-team on vault and second team on floor.

Mueller (second team) and Wells (first team) also received recognition on vault. Torrez and Murphy each earned first team recognition on beam.

ROAD WARRIORS

In the last decade, the Sooners have shown they are a force to be reckoned with away from the friendly confines of Lloyd Noble Center. Since 2015, the Sooners boast a 269-16-1 record on the road, a .942 win rate. This includes a 67-6 (.918) record at true away competiton sites and a 203-10-1 (.951) mark at neutral sites. In 2026, the Sooners are 24-1-1 in meets away from home.

THE ROAD TO FORT WORTH

Though the road to Fort Worth is a quick trip down I-35, the journey to the national championship is much more difficult. The top two finishing teams from each regional advanced to the semifinals at Dickies Arena.

The Sooners are no strangers to their semifinal competition, having faced UCLA in the season opener and Arkansas on four occasions. OU is 5-0 against their semifinal field and will see Minnesota for the first time this season. OU is 5-1-1 against the other side of the bracket, having faced Florida, Georgia and LSU in SEC action.

SOUTH CENTRAL'S BEST

Oklahoma's assistant coaching staff of associate head coaches Lou Ball and Tom Haley and assistant coach Ashey Kerr were named the regional assistant coaches of the year by the WCGA.

The trio led Oklahoma to a No. 1 national ranking for 11 consecutive weeks and the No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament, while helping guide the Sooners to a 23-1-1 record in the regular season, an SEC Regular Season Championship and a 16th consecutive regional title. The coaching staff led three athletes to a trio of SEC individual crowns and 69 individual event titles. They coached three gymnasts to four perfect 10s on the season and helped lead Oklahoma gymnasts to 18 All-SEC honors and eight regular season All-America honors.

LOOKING AHEAD

The top two placing teams from each semifinal will advance to the 2026 NCAA Championship Final in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 18.