Oklahoma delivers dominant performance in early season test

The University of Oklahoma women's gymnastics team scored a convincing victory Saturday (13 January) at the Collegiate Quad meet, held in Salt Lake City's Maverick Center.

The competition featured a stacked line up with three of the four teams that made the 2023 NCAA finals taking part:  champions OU, the University of Utah and Louisiana State University. The University of California at Los Angeles, which was ranked fifth in the preseason poll, completed the field.

On Saturday, the Oklahoma Sooners soared to a 197.900 for the title. LSU was second at 197.150, followed by UCLA's 197.100. Utah was fourth after scoring a 196.975.

UCLA's Selena Harris won the all-around crown with a 39.650, followed by Audrey Davis of the University of Oklahoma and Haleigh Bryant of Louisiana State University. Davis and Bryant tied for second with matching 39.625 scores.

"I mean competing against these teams was an incredible experience, just being able to have all the energy in here so just keeping that ball rolling and going into the gym and doing the same thing that we've been doing every single day," Davis told ESPN afterward. "We always just relax, we tell each other to relax and have fun because that's the most important part about gymnastics."

Oklahoma wasted no time asserting their dominance, rattling off a full line-up of six 10.0 valued vaults in the opening rotation for a 49.450 total and the lead. Freshman Hannah Scheible led the way with a 9.925.

UCLA was closed behind with a 49.200 on the floor exercise. The opening event saw Utah (49.050) forced to count two scores under 9.800 on the uneven bars, and LSU absorbed a 9.375 from Kiya Johnson after Annie Beard came off the apparatus in the first half of the rotation. The totalled just 48.750.

After two rotations, OU continued to lead UCLA, edging the differential up to .300 - 98.900 to 89.600. The Sooners scored a 49.450 on the uneven bars, highlighted by a near perfect 9.975 from Davis.

Harris, a Bruin sophomore standout, stuck her Yurchenko one-and-a-half vault for a 9.950 that led her squad to a 49.400 on the event.

The Sooners moved to the final rotation with a .550 lead after a massive 49.500 total on the balance beam. Jordan Bowers was the top scorer on the event with a 9.950 for a routine that featured a picture perfect switch leap half turn and a stuck double twist dismount.

With mirror errors from three gymnasts, UCLA ceded ground to Oklahoma on the uneven bars where they earned a team score of 49.250.

In the final rotation, Oklahoma continued to cruise as they tallied a 49.475 for the win.

LSU used a lights out rotation on the uneven bars to pass UCLA for second place. Their 49.650 was the best event total by any team.

2022 U.S. national champion Konnor McClain, a freshman, earned her first career perfect score for a routine that included a Church release move (toe-on piked Tkatchev) to Pak salto combination.

Next week, the Sooners head to the University of Denver for a quad meet that features UCLA and Stanford, in addition to the hosts.