No. 2 OU women’s gymnastics (3-0-1) will face No. 5 Georgia (2-0) on Friday in the Sooners’ 2026 home opener.
OU is coming off wins in the Sprouts Collegiate Quad and against Missouri. Georgia jumped up to No. 5 in the rankings after a 197.200-196.850 upset win over reigning Southeastern Conference champion LSU last Friday. OU last met Georgia in March 2025 in a 197.925-195.950 Sooner win.
Nationally, OU ranks in the top 10 on three events. The Sooners are No. 1 on vault, No. 2 on beam and No. 7 on bars. Head coach K.J. Kindler sees vault as one of the team’s core strengths.
“It’s definitely one of our stronger events, definitely an event we have tons of depth on so really excited to see how that lineup will develop as we continue on,” Kindler said.
OU has relied on multiple freshmen so far in the 2026 season, including Mackenzie Estep, who was named the SEC freshman of the week for her performance in the Sprouts Collegiate Quad. They have played major roles in OU’s victories the first two weeks and are impressing their teammates and coaches.
“They have a lot of fire in them, a lot of work in them,” senior Faith Torrez said. “They want it just as bad as us, and I think that really helps us and drives us into each meet every week.”
The contributions of freshmen have led to OU using 11 different gymnasts in their meets, a sharp increase from last year.
“Last year, we were at eight people, so (11) is a lot more cushion, a lot more depth,” Kindler said. “We weren’t sure about our depth because we do have a lot of youth on the team. I think we’re finding out that those youngsters are gamers, and they’re stepping up into their shoes.”
OU will also raise their 2025 national championship banner with last year’s team in attendance, and the seniors see it as motivation for the freshmen.
“We were a part of that, and it was a remarkable moment for us in our careers,” Torrez said. “To have the freshmen as well see that and want that, I think that’s very, very important to them too because that’s what we’re striving for.”
The meet against Georgia begins at 5:45 p.m. Friday in the Lloyd Noble Center on SEC Network.
This story was edited by Joshua McDaniel.
