The lingering memory of loss never leaves.
And as Brie Olson sat in the stands during the 2012 NCAA Championship finals, the pang of what could have been has lasted over a decade.
“I remember the feeling,” Olson told the OU Daily. “I knew, deep down, that we should be out there.”
Those same emotions were felt by this year’s team as Oklahoma gymnastics failed to qualify for the finals in Fort Worth, Texas, on Thursday. The last time OU didn’t qualify for the NCAA Championship finals was 12 years ago in the Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Georgia — a team Olson was part of.
However, despite the two meets taking place thousands of miles, and years apart, the feelings remain indistinguishable. As Olson, who was an All-American for OU and on the team from 2010-13, watched Thursday’s meet, she understood that life and gymnastics change, but the highs and lows associated with the sport do not.
“There were huge differences between the two teams, but there are also similarities,” Olson said. “I mean the disappointment on their faces when they realized they didn’t make the Final Four, and that letdown. Also just giving it your all at that competition and not making it.
“I can just relate strongly to that feeling of disappointment.”
The 2012 team was riddled with postseason injuries, putting athletes in positions they did not experience in the regular season, but this year’s squad faced different challenges.
After three falls on Thursday — one on vault and two on beam — with additional low scores on vault, OU finished with a team score of 196.6625, coming in third behind No. 4 Florida and No. 5 Utah, its worst NCAA Championship semifinal total since 2010 and its third worst of all time.
The team’s consistency drove the Sooners’ 36-0 start to the season, but when faced with adversity during the semifinals, they struggled to overcome it, not finishing in the top two at the championships for the first time since 2015.
The Sooners navigated the regular season with ease, breaking the NCAA scoring record with a 198.950 at the Big 12 Championships. Oklahoma, according to College Gym News, was also given an 80% chance to win the national championship.
Oklahoma’s head coach K.J. Kindler believes that her team’s lack of experience in dealing with failure in prior competitions this season is what ultimately led them to their season-ending meet in the semifinals.
“We didn't miss enough,” Kindler said. “I know that sounds weird, but we didn't miss enough this year, and we weren't under enough pressure in moments that really mattered. Losing can be very impactful on the growth of a team.”
As OU’s season came to a close, so did the careers of fifth-year seniors Soraya Hawthorne and Ragan Smith.
Additionally, Kindler stated in a post-meet press conference that three-time All-American senior Katherine LeVasseur will not be using her COVID-19 year and will not return next season. Fellow senior Sheridan Ramsey recently announced that she will forego her COVID-19 eligibility to return to her hometown of Tulsa to coach at Aim High Academy this May.
Seniors Audrey Davis, Bell Johnson and Meilin Sullivan have yet to officially announce their decisions, as they all have the option to take an extra year of eligibility.
Individual bars and beam national champion Audrey Davis is the only one of the trio who competed in Fort Worth, and OU will lose 11 of 24 starting routines from the semifinals pending her decision. While Johnson did not compete in the semifinals, she provided 11 consecutive floor routines for OU from February on after junior Danae Fletcher suffered a season-ending injury. Fletcher’s potential return in 2025 could help to ease the turnover the Sooners face.
While OU’s roster could look significantly different next season, the last loss it suffered in the semifinals mounted a 12-year comeback, allowing Kindler to turn her program into one that not only competes for national championships but wins them.
“I felt really sad for the seniors because it was their last meet,” Olson said when reflecting on the loss in 2012. “But I also felt a fire under me, because I still had one more year. And I knew I never wanted to feel this way again.”
That fire would fuel Oklahoma gymnastics to 12 consecutive finals appearances, with half of them resulting in national titles. But even amid its success, OU was aware of the meticulous nature of the sport and the possibility of failure.
“I don't think that we thought we were unbeatable, ever,” Kindler said after the meet. “And we certainly weren't.”
For a team that has “lived in a luxury of success for over a decade” as Kindler calls it, this hiccup is out of the ordinary. But the same question stands as it did for Olson sitting in the stands in 2012:
How will Oklahoma respond?
“You have to forget that you fail,” Olson said. “You have to put it behind you.”
This story was copy edited by Grayson Blalock.
