No. 1 OU women’s gymnastics (16-0-1) defeated No. 9 Michigan (11-4) and Eastern Michigan (8-12) 197.925-197.100-195.025 Friday
The Sooners finished their regular season with another win and will enter the postseason undefeated, with only a tiebreaker win over LSU in the first meet of the season blemishing their resume. OU took the title on vault, bars and beam at the meet but lost to the Wolverines on floor.
Bars trouble
The Sooners opened the meet cold, with a 49.225 on bars, their worst score on any event since January.
OU had improved on bars over the last month, moving up to No. 3 in the country, but much of that progress was undone Friday night as the team consistently struggled to stick landings, resulting in lower scores. Freshman Mackenzie Estep led the event for the Sooners, scoring 9.900.
Despite the setbacks, OU still took the highest score of the meet in the event, ahead of Michigan’s 49.000.
Vault success
What the Sooners lacked in the first rotation on bars, they made up for in their second rotation on vault.
OU scored a 49.650, with junior Hannah Scheible and sophomore Elle Mueller both scoring a 9.975. The Sooners have ranked No. 1 nationally on vault for much of the season, and their score Friday night ensured they will carry that ranking into the postseason.
All-around stellar performances
Two OU gymnasts tied for the all-around title during the meet.
Estep and sophomore Addison Fatta both scored a 39.500. Estep’s best score came on floor at 9.925. She has been consistently in the all-around rotation over the last three meets, as sophomore Lily Pederson has been out with the flu. Fatta also had her highest score of the meet on floor at a 9.9 and was consistent across events, not scoring below 9.85.
OU will now look ahead to the Southeastern Conference tournament next Saturday at the BOK Center in Tulsa, with the Sooners entering the tournament as the top seed. They will compete in the evening session against the teams ranked No. 2 to No. 4 in the SEC.
This story was edited by Joshua McDaniel.
