Utah, Oklahoma, LSU, Florida advance to NCAA Women's Gymnastics Finals
Utah's Maile O'Keefe claimed the all-around crown, just ahead of 2020 Olympic team silver medallist Jordan Chiles
Artistic Gymnastics
Never count out a champion.
University of Florida fifth-year Trinity Thomas, the 2022 NCAA all-around champion, proved as much Thursday (13 April) as she returned to competition on two events, the uneven bars and vault, after a lower leg injury sidelined her two weeks ago at the Regional Championships.
Her 9.950 effort on the uneven bars and 9.900 score on the vault helped lift her squad to a second place finish in the first of two national semifinals and place in the finals at the 2023 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships in Ft. Worth, Texas.
Florida's 197.400 put them just behind session winner LSU, which earned a 197.475. Cal (196.9125) and Denver (196.5000) finished third and fourth, respectively, missing out on Saturday's final.
In the day's second semifinal, Utah and defending champions Oklahoma cruised to the top scores of the day scores of 198.2250 and 198.1625. UCLA (197.9125) and Kentucky (197.1250) rounded out the top four in third and fourth, respectively.
Utah's Maile O'Keefe claimed the all-around title with a 39.7625, holding off Olympic silver medallist Jordan Chiles, who posted a 39.7125.
The No. 6 team coming in, LSU has been tested throughout the season after losing several of its star athletes to injury including Kai Rivers.
At every turn, they've refused to back down.
"I've been doing this for a minute, 33 years, and this this team is up there as the best," said LSU head coach Jay Clark of his team's ability to put hardships behind them. "I'm just so proud of our kids. We just continue to fight, and 'fight' is the word that I would use to describe it most. They don't quit."
The Tigers started on the balance beam with a 49.2750. They posted a 49.475 on the floor exercise in the second rotation on the strength of Aleah Finnegan and Haleigh Bryant's 9.9625 and 9.950 scores, respectively. They posted a 49.250 on the vault before posting another 49.475 on the uneven bars.
"We've had so much adversity, but Jay always said that if you want to honor somebody, you do it with your actions," said Bryant. "And we just want to do our best gymnastics for the people that can't contribute right now."
Now, they'll get one more chance to honour their teammates in Saturday's final.
Utah, for its part, was spectacular, delivering a shock upset over Oklahoma - only the second time this season that OU has failed post the top score during a competition.
The Utes closed out the competition in style as senior O'Keefe scored a perfect 10.0 to lift her squad to a 49.6875 total on the event. Their other apparatus scores were 49.3625, vault; 49.6750, bars; and 49.5000, floor exercise.
Trinity Thomas' gametime decision
Thomas' status as of Wednesday's podium training where she only practiced on the uneven bars was day-to-day and questions swirled whether she would compete or not. But signs that she would go began to take shape during Thursday's warmup where she landed several double layout dismounts off the uneven bars with ease.
Then, she appeared to test the lower leg on floor exercise, doing a round off to back layout. Minutes later, she was warming up on vault - her first time on the equipment in nearly two weeks.
"I mean, we were literally taking it day-by-day, one day at-a-time, treatment-wise and physical therapy-wise and just talking with the doctors and physical therapists and seeing what was best and then just seeing how I felt," Thomas explained after the competition. "And, so, bars practice day was going well and I did some runs on the vault runway. And, then, today during warmups, I vaulted and I felt good and I told [head coach] Jenny [Rowland] that that's what I want to do."
Coach Rowland didn't hesitate.
"She's proven, you know, day-in and day-out that when she says, 'Jenny, I got this,' she's going to be good," said Rowland.
Florida started out competition strong with a 49.4875 on the uneven bars, led by Thomas' 9.950 and Leanne Wong's 9.9375 efforts. But things got shaky in the third rotation, where they were forced to count a 9.6125 score from Riley McCusker on the balance beam.
They moved to floor exercise in the third rotation in third place behind leader Cal and LSU. But Cal opened the door after two of their competitors - Gabby Perea and Ella Cesario - slipped off the bar.
Florida capitalised, earning a 49.5250 with Wong contributing a 9.9625.
"We have each other's backs. Not every day is going to be perfect, and there's going to be ups and there's going to be downs," Rowland said of her team's turn around. "And it's how you react and repond, really taking our step forward, forgetting about it. It's going to be a goldfish every now and then."
K.J. Kindler: "We're going to have to earn it"
The Oklahoma Sooners come to Ft. Worth considered by many to be the favourites to capture a sixth overall title, though veteran coach K.J. Kindler knows it's never easy - especially to defend.
"We have done it before, but it is very difficult," Kindler told Olympics.com "I just think coming off a championship, the mindset is there, you want to do it so bad and sometimes the pressure is really intense. We've tried to lift that a little bit this year and this is a new group trying to approach it from a different angle."
On Saturday, they earned team totals of 49.4625, vault; 49.4875, uneven bars; 49.5500, balance beam; and 49.6625, floor exercise.
Kindler expects a tight battle in the final.
"There's so many good teams and the parity is just everything is so close," she said. "I think there's a lot of options out there, so we're going to have to earn it."