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'She’s a gamer': Olivia Trautman's perfect 10 helps OU hold off Florida women's gymnastics

ryan aber, oklahoman
·4 min read
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NORMAN — When Ragan Smith wrapped up her 9.925 balance beam performance Friday, top-ranked OU hadn’t wrapped up a victory over No. 2 Florida.

But it sure felt like any chance the Gators had to upset the Sooners had gone by the board.

Smith’s performance steadied OU, which went on to a 197.950-197.700 victory over Florida in front of the second-largest crowd in program history at Lloyd Noble Center.

Smith’s anchoring performance in the event came just after freshman Faith Torrez slipped on the beam and Florida’s Leanne Wong posted a 9.95 on the floor to close the gap.

A slip from Smith could’ve left the Sooners reeling and put their 67-meet home victory streak in peril.

But Smith, who slipped on the beam a week earlier against West Virginia, was solid.

“Ragan having had an error last week, she had to be really mentally strong,” Sooners coach K.J. Kindler said. “I thought she handled it well, but she didn’t attack like she can.”

OU (12-0) has not lost at home since 2014.

The Sooners don’t have much time to soak it in. They’ll face No. 4 Michigan on the road Monday.

Here are three other takeaways from the victory:

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Oklahoma's coach K.J. Kindler talks with Ragan Smith during a women's college gymnastics meet between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and Florida at Lloyd Noble in Norman, Okla., Friday, March 3, 2023.
Oklahoma's coach K.J. Kindler talks with Ragan Smith during a women's college gymnastics meet between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and Florida at Lloyd Noble in Norman, Okla., Friday, March 3, 2023.

Olivia Trautman is perfect

Olivia Trautman has had plenty of perfect 10s in her career.

But going into Friday’s meet, she hadn’t had one since 2021 after being sidelined by injury for much of last season and the early part of this season.

But Trautman brought a major buzz to the crowd early, nailing her vault for her fourth career perfect 10 in the event and her fifth overall.

Trautman had a perfect score on the floor in 2019.

“She’s a gamer,” Sooners coach K.J. Kindler said. “End of story. She’s done maybe 20% of the reps that anyone else has done, maybe 10. But maybe that’s a good thing. She has had less mileage on the body this year so she’s feeling fresh and good.”

Trautman said she felt things progressing in the right direction after making her season vault debut in the win over West Virginia on Feb. 24.

She narrowly missed a 10 in that meet, finishing with a 9.975.

“I’m feeling really good,” Trautman said. “My body’s feeling great. When I landed my vault, I knew it was going to be a 10.”

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Olivia Trautman, center, celebrates with her OU teammates after scoring a perfect 10 on the vault during a women's college gymnastics meet against Florida on Friday at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.
Olivia Trautman, center, celebrates with her OU teammates after scoring a perfect 10 on the vault during a women's college gymnastics meet against Florida on Friday at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.

Electric atmosphere at LNC

The last time Florida visited Lloyd Noble Center it was also a matchup of Nos. 1 and 2.

That time like Friday, the top-ranked Sooners came out on top.

Friday’s matchup shows the growth the program has undergone since then.

In that 2019 match, the Sooners had a then-record crowd of 5,082.

A large banner blocked off a large portion of the arena as fans crowded on one side.

Since, the Sooners have gone to a backdrop just on one end of the arena for most meets.

Friday, there was no backdrop, as the second-largest crowd in program history took in the meet.

While the final attendance figure was not released, it came somewhere between the record 10,177 that watched the Sooners take down UCLA later in the 2019 season and the crowd for the meet against Utah earlier this season.

“They were electric,” Sooners coach K.J. Kindler said. “Brick by brick. We’ve been doing this a long time and we’ve been successful for a long time.”

Since 2019, attendance has steadily risen but this season, there has been a more substantial jump.

“I’m hoping we keep adding to it and this becomes the norm,” Kindler said.

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OU's Olivia Trautman celebrates after competing on the bars on Friday at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.
OU's Olivia Trautman celebrates after competing on the bars on Friday at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.

Dani Sievers shines

Danielle Sievers has been hailed by Sooners coach K.J. Kindler as OU’s most consistent gymnast.

She certainly looked the part Friday, with a 9.95 on vault, a 9.925 on bars and a 9.925 on floor.

It was the second time this season that Sievers posted a 9.9 or better in all three events. The other came against Iowa State on Feb. 3.

“Dani’s amazing,” Olivia Trautman said. “She’s really good on the leadoff.”

Sievers prefers to go first and set the tone on the vault from the beginning, building momentum toward Trautman’s 10.

“I like to get the momentum going and it’s been going pretty well,” Sievers said.

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma Sooners beat Florida Gators in 1 vs 2 NCAA women's gymanstics