It may be the birth of the next great NCAA gymnastics dynasty. Or not. But what's for sure is that right now, it's great to be an Oklahoma Sooners gymnastics fan.
The team made school history three times Friday night. It toppled no. 1 Alabama, the first time the SOoners have ever upset a no. 1 opponent. Secondly, a crowd of 2,529 -- the most fans ever to turn out at an OU women's gymnastics meet -- came to watch them do it.
Thirdly, the team set a new school record, 197.95, bettering the old school record 197.725. Alabama kept things close the entire meet and ended with 197.275. It is the fifth time this season the Crimson Tide have posted a score higher than 197.
But Oklahoma had higher team scores on vault, beam and floor exercise, and its gymnasts won or tied for all four event titles. OU senior and 2003 World bars co-champion Hollie Vise tied Alabama senior Kassi Price on uneven bars (9.925) and also won balance beam (9.95), while Jackie Flanery had the highest score of the night on floor (9.975). OU's Mary Mantle won vault (9.925.)
Alabama junior Kayla Hoffman won the all-around title (39.5, career high). No Oklahoma gymnast competed on all four events.
"I feel like we literally moved a mountain tonight. Alabama's program has tradition, it has charisma and it has pride associated with it. We physically, mentally and confidence-wise moved that mountain tonight. That is an incredible accomplishment for our program," Oklahoma coach K.J. Kindler told SoonerSports.com after the meet.
This is Alabama's second loss of the season. The Tide, who should be in contention for the NCAA title in April, have also lost to LSU.
"In three events, I felt like we did a great job,” Alabama coach Sarah Patterson told RollTide.com after the meet. “We did not stick our vaults like we did last week at Kentucky, but they scored well because they were so big. I give a lot of credit to Oklahoma; they had tonight marked on their calendar and they were ready to do a great job. They are an extremely talented team, one through six, on every event and they performed nearly flawlessly tonight.”
Follow Gymnastics Examiner Blythe Lawrence on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GymExaminer or click the "Subscribe" button above to receive the latest gymnastics news and results via e-mail.
Comments