Top-ranked Oklahoma sweeps all four events to win Big 12 women's gymnastics title

Top-ranked Oklahoma sweeps all four events to win Big 12 women's gymnastics title

The No. 1-ranked Oklahoma women’s gymnastics team won all four events, posted its best beam score in program history (49.800) behind senior Ragan Smith’s perfect 10, and registered the best-ever Big 12 Championship score to claim its 10th conference title in the last 11 seasons with a 198.400 in a victory over No. 13 Denver (197.175), host West Virginia (196.225) and Iowa State (193.750) on Saturday night in Morgantown, W.Va.

OU scored a 198.500 on the night but was penalized one-tenth of a point for being out of order on bars. The 198.400 still represented the Sooners’ third-best score (tied) and the nation’s fourth-best score of the season, based on totals entering the weekend. OU now owns the nation’s best, third-best and fourth-best scores of 2023, and has topped the 198 mark a nation-leading seven times. The title is the 13th in the tenure of 17th-year OU head coach K.J. Kindler. It also marks the 14th Big 12 team championship in program history and 19th conference title overall.

“The beam team was legitimately on fire,” Kindler said. “From Jenna (Dunn in the leadoff spot) and all the way through to Ragan, simply a magical performance. Team, that’s what it’s all about.”

Freshman Faith Torrez became the 10th OU gymnast to be named Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, joining teammates Smith (2020) and senior Olivia Trautman (2019) as current Sooners to have won the award. Junior Katherine LeVasseur became the third consecutive Sooner to win the Big 12 Event Specialist of the Year and 10th overall. This marks the first time LeVasseur earned an end-of-the-year conference honor. Kindler was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year for the 12th time since she took over the Sooners program and the 15th time overall.

In addition to the year-end awards, individual conference champions were recognized after the meet. Six Sooners combined for a total of eight Big 12 individual event titles on the evening, claiming at least a share of every event title and the all-around. Sophomore Jordan Bowers picked up her second and third career Big 12 titles, respectively, with a 9.950 on floor and 39.700 in the all-around. Bowers became the first Sooner to win a conference all-around crown since Maggie Nichols in 2018. The Lincoln, Neb., native has earned 20 individual titles this season and now ranks 10th in program history with 40 career titles.

“Jordan has been pumping out great all-around efforts week after week and tonight was no different,” Kindler said. “Incredible performance once again, and a champion.”

Trautman and Smith are both tied (with four other Sooners) for the fifth-most career conference titles with four each. Trautman won her second consecutive Big 12 vault title and earned her first conference bars crown (scored a 9.950 on each; the bars score tied a career high). Smith earned her fourth perfect 10 on beam to move into fifth place in the school record book for career perfect scores. It was her third title on the event this season. Trautman moved into ninth in career vault titles (10) and is currently tied with teammate Bowers, while Smith is now tied for fifth in career beam titles (15) with Anastasia Webb and Haley DeProspero.

Sophomore Danielle Sievers (vault), junior Audrey Davis (bars) and freshman Faith Torrez (floor) also earned conference titles. Sievers won her second career Big 12 crown and first on vault with a 9.950, sharing the title with Trautman and Denver’s Rylie Mundell. The event title was also the first in 2023 for the Gary, S.D., native. Davis earned her first Big 12 individual championship on bars, tying Trautman, and ranks fifth in program history with 18 career bars titles. Torrez was the only freshman at the 2023 conference championship to win an individual title. The Bristol, Wis., native tied Bowers and Denver’s Jessica Hutchinson.

The Sooners now await to learn their path to the NCAA Championships in Fort Worth, Texas. The NCAA selection show is at 11 a.m. Monday. OU is one of four hosts for an NCAA Regional, with the Sooners hosting March 29-April 1.

OU softball tops Auburn

Jayda Coleman was on fire at the plate against Auburn on Sunday. From her first at-bat to her last, the OU center fielder could do no wrong. And with her leading the way, the Sooners capped an impressive three days at the Omni Hall of Fame Classic with another dominant victory.

Coleman went 4 for 4, scored three runs and drove in two as top-ranked OU defeated No. 19 Auburn 7-1 at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium.

Auburn had a great start as leadoff hitter Nelia Peralta launched a homer off OU’s Alex Storako to begin the game.

After the Sooners were held scoreless in the first two innings, Coleman hit a two-run homer off Maddie Penta in the third before OU blew things open with a four-run fifth.

Although Storako gave up the leadoff home run, she was nearly perfect after that.

Overall, she pitched five innings, struck out 11, walked one and allowed just two hits before Jordy Bahl entered and tossed the last two innings to seal the win.

The game was tight entering the fifth, but Tiare Jennings and Kinzie Hansen helped OU assert its dominance.

Jennings and Hansen each launched a two-run homer, and OU cruised from there.

With the win, OU improved to 28-1 and earned its 19th straight victory.

Storako earned the win in the circle and is now 10-0 on the season. She has a 0.94 ERA.

Cowgirls sweep weekend series

The Oklahoma State softball team completed its sweep of the OSU Mizuno Classic with a 9-4 victory against UCF on Sunday afternoon at Cowgirl Stadium.

With the win, OSU improved to 25-2, while UCF fell to 18-16.

In the circle for the Cowgirl, All-American Kelly Maxwell was called upon for her second start of the weekend and her 10th of the season. The redshirt-senior lefty pitched five innings and tallied nine strikeouts in her eighth win of the season.

Extra points

COLLEGE BASEBALL: Braxton Douthit pitched 6⅓ shutout innings and John Spikerman hit a two-run triple in the fifth inning to lead OU to a 3-1 win over No. 11 TCU Saturday at L. Dale Mitchell Park. ... Oklahoma State smacked four home runs in a 9-4 win at Texas Tech on Saturday as Tyler Wulfert homered twice and Nolan McLean and Roc Riggio also went deep.

NFL: The Dallas Cowboys have acquired receiver Brandin Cooks in a trade with the Houston Texans. The deal adds a speedy veteran to play alongside CeeDee Lamb. Houston gets a fifth-round pick this year and a 2024 sixth-rounder. The trade is reminiscent of a year ago when Dallas sent No. 1 receiver Amari Cooper to Cleveland for two late-round picks. The difference is the Texans will pay $6 million of Cooks’ $18 million salary. The Browns absorbed the entire $20 million owed to Cooper. It’s the fifth time the 29-year-old Cooks has been traded.

—Staff and wire reports

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU women's gymnastics team sweeps all four events to win Big 12 title