FORT WORTH, Tex. — Oklahoma, the most dominant NCAA women’s gymnastics team this season and perhaps one of the best in the sport’s history, did not advance out of the national semifinals after a stunning series of errors Thursday night.
Oklahoma
In stunning collapse, Oklahoma gymnastics fails to advance to NCAA final
“This was character-building for this team,” Oklahoma Coach K.J. Kindler said afterward on the ESPN broadcast. “They fought back hard. It was emotional. I give them all the credit for gutting it out through the whole end of it. It was tough.”
The Sooners’ unraveling began at the start. On vault, the Sooners’ first apparatus of the evening, three Oklahoma gymnasts had major mistakes. Faith Torrez, the first gymnast to compete, fell on her 1½-twisting vault, then Jordan Bowers and Katherine LeVasseur barely stayed on their feet with multiple deep steps backward on the same skill. Teams can only drop one score per apparatus so two of those low marks (9.45 and 9.375) factored into the Sooners’ total.
From then on, Oklahoma’s chances of a comeback were slim and probably would have required major mistakes from other teams. Alabama had a meltdown on beam with four falls, but Utah (197.9375 final score) and Florida (197.875) held steady. The Sooners’ hopes evaporated in the third rotation when LeVasseur and Ava Siegfeldt fell during their beam routines.
“They were trying to put everything into it, but at the same time, the emotions, I think, were taking over a little bit,” Kindler said of her team’s response to the early mistakes on vault.
Oklahoma may have been able to weather its errors on the beam, especially with the other four gymnasts scoring a 9.9375 or higher, if not for the disastrous start on vault.
In that first rotation, Oklahoma tallied a 48.325, more than a point lower than the majority of the team’s showings on that apparatus this season. The Sooners hadn’t scored that low on any apparatus since January 2021, and since 2012 Oklahoma had previously struggled that much on only two occasions.
The hallmark of this Oklahoma team had been its consistency, which makes Thursday’s disappointing showing all the more jarring. Before this competition, Oklahoma hadn’t scored lower than a 197.775 all season. Several hours before the Sooners’ session began, LSU Coach Jay Clark called Oklahoma the “prohibitive favorite” to win the final.
The Sooners have notched 11 of the top 20 scores in the country this season, according to Road to Nationals, the website that maintains all NCAA gymnastics scores. That’s the most scores in the top 20 for any team since 1998, when Road to Nationals began recording data.
The Sooners’ extraordinary dominance made them appear unstoppable. With a successful showing here en route to another national title, this Oklahoma squad may have been considered the greatest NCAA gymnastics team ever. But now, despite their accomplishments before this weekend, the Sooners will be remembered as the juggernaut that finished with a shocking collapse.
Oklahoma
OU Softball: Five Oklahoma Players Named in Top 26 for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year
Five Oklahoma Sooners are in the running for college softball’s top individual honor.
Tiare Jennings, Jayda Coleman, Alyssa Brito, Kinzie Hansen and Kelly Maxwell all made the cut as top 26 finalists for the 2024 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award, USA Softball announced on Wednesday.
Oklahoma’s five selections leads all teams, with Tennessee also adding three selections. Duke, Florida and Miami (OH) were the other three schools who also earned multiple selections.
Jennings is the only OU player to start all 49 games this year, and she paces the Sooners with 18 home runs, 55 RBIs and 12 doubles. She’s batting .386 in 2024, and has drawn 28 walks while striking out just nine times. Jennings made the top 10 a year ago alongside Coleman.
Coleman, the 2023 Big 12 Player of the Year, is batting .488 entering the final weekend of the regular season with a slugging percentage of .722 and a 1.266 OPS. She driven in 77 runs and hammered 11 long balls to pair with her always show-stopping defense in center field.
Hansen leads OU with a .441 batting average and has been nothing short of sensational since returning to the lineup. She boasts a .488 on-base percentage, belting eight home runs, six doubles and 27 RBIs.
Brito was again a steady hand for the Sooners at third base and an explosive bat in the lineup. She’s hit 18 home runs, four triples, three doubles and driven in 50 runs. Brito is batting .417 on the year and has a 1.369 OPS entering Bedlam.
In the circle, Maxwell has dazzled as Oklahoma’s ace. Appearing in 24 games, Maxwell has a 1.66 ERA is 16-1 on the year. She’s thrown seven complete games and four shutouts, striking out 107 batters while allowing 34 walks and holding opposing hitters to a .170 batting average in 2024.
The list of 26 will be cut down to 10 on May 15, and the top three finalists will be announced on May 20. Finally, the 2024 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will be revealed in the build up to the Women’s College World Series.
A Sooner has taken home the award four times. Jocelyn Alo won the award in both 2021 and 2022, and Keilani Ricketts won in both 2012 and 2013.
Oklahoma
Which day has the highest rainfall in Oklahoma? How much rain does the state receive annually?
Oklahoma is notorious for unpredictable, unseasonable weather. In late March, snowfall surprised the metro, and spring temperatures have ranged from the upper-80s to low-40s.
On average, annual precipitation in the state ranges from about 17 inches in the far western panhandle to about 56 inches in the far southeast, according to the Oklahoma Climatological Survey.
Here’s everything you should know about rainfall in the Sooner State.
Which day has the highest rainfall in Oklahoma?
According to the climatological survey, the greatest annual precipitation recorded in the state was 84.47 inches at Kiamichi Tower in the southeast in 1957.
In a 24-hour period, the greatest official rainfall was 15.68 inches in Enid on October 11, 1973.
When does Oklahoma receive the most rain?
Oklahoma gets most of its precipitation during the nighttime hours, according to the climatological survey, but the greatest rainfall intensities occur during late afternoon.
In the winter, precipitation is widespread and stratiform, meaning they’re continuous and uniform in intensity, and rainfall is the dominant precipitation type for all but the Oklahoma Panhandle, according to the survey.
In the summer, precipitation is mostly convective, occurring when warm, moist air rises in the atmosphere, and produced by individual thunderstorms.
Spring and autumn see convective and stratiform precipitation, according to the survey, and most of the precipitation during these transition seasons is associated with systems of severe thunderstorms.
Oklahoma Mesonet rainfall totals
The Mesonet is a joint project between the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University under the Oklahoma Climatological Survey.
Find daily rainfall totals using this Oklahoma Mesonet rainfall map.
Oklahoma
OU Baseball: Oklahoma Drops Midweek at Oral Roberts
By OU Media Relations
TULSA — No. 22 Oklahoma dropped a midweek contest to Oral Roberts, 3-1, Tuesday night in Tulsa.
A pitcher’s duel to start between Sooner starting LHP James Hitt and ORU starter RHP Joshua Caravalho led to three and a half scoreless innings to start the contest.
After Hitt surrendered just one hit through three, the Golden Eagles (17-26-1) broke through in the fourth with two runs on three hits. After consecutive singles to start the frame, an RBI single and sacrifice bunt put the first runs on the board.
The Sooners (26-17, 15-6 Big 12) went quietly again at the top of the fifth before ORU added one via RBI double in the home half to make it 3-0 after five.
Oklahoma pushed one run across at the top of the sixth. After consecutive singles from freshman Jason Walk and junior John Spikerman to start the inning, an RBI groundout from sophomore Easton Carmichael scored Walk for OU’s only run of the night.
A scoreless final three innings brought the final to 3-1, Oral Roberts. OU’s three hits tied its lowest total on the year with last Tuesday’s 3-1 win over Wichita State.
Hitt (L, 2-5) took the loss in an otherwise solid showing, going four innings and surrendering two runs on four hits with one walk and a pair of strikeouts. Grant Stevens (1.0 IP), Carter Campbell (1.2) and Dylan Crooks (1.1) saw action out of the pen with Stevens striking out one.
At the plate, Spikerman, Walk and senior Anthony Mackenzie recorded OU’s three hits on the night, while Carmichael brought in OU’s run. Senior Bryce Madron drew a pair of walks.
OU returns to Big 12 conference play this weekend, May 3-5, in Lubbock vs. Texas Tech (29-17, 12-12). The three-game series begins Friday with a 6:30 p.m. CT first pitch. The series can be seen via Big 12 NOW on ESPN+.
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