No. 1 OU women’s gymnastics (14-0-1) defeated Texas Women’s University (8-12) 198.175-195.025 on Sunday at the Lloyd Noble Center.
On senior night, the Sooners won all four events over their Division II opponent. After finishing their last two meets with scores below 198, the Sooners reached back into the 198’s for the first time since their meet against LSU.
Here are three key takeaways:
Senior performances
OU celebrated senior gymnasts Faith Torrez and Ava Siegfeldt during the meet.
Siegfeldt, who had contributed on beam and vault across her time at OU, performed an exhibition routine on beam during Sunday’s meet. It was her first routine of the season, after sustaining a lower leg injury in pre-season that held her out for much of the year.
Torrez competed on bars and beam and had a mixed final home meet. She had a fall on beam that caused her lowest score of the season, but led the Sooners on bars.
“She’s a picture of consistency, Faith is,” head coach K.J. Kindler said. “Sometimes stuff happens, and unfortunately, she just had a small error tonight.”
Hot start
OU got off to a hot start over the first two events.
The Sooners achieved their second-best score of the season on vault at 49.650 and tied for their season-high on bars at 49.600. Sophomore Elizabeth Blessey, freshman Mackenzie Estep and sophomore Addison Fatta tied for the highest vault score with a 9.950, as no Sooner gymnast went below a 9.9 on the event. Freshman Ella Murphy opened the bars rotation strong, scoring 9.925, while Torrez led the team with a 9.95.
“Both events were hot from beginning to end,” Kindler said. “Somebody’s got to strike the match, and then the rest of them can light the fire.”
Lineup Changes
Sophomore Lily Pederson missed her second consecutive meet with the flu, which caused a shuffle in the lineups.
Freshman Ella Murphy filled in as the lead gymnast on both bars and floor, while redshirt junior Caitlin Smith made her home debut. Smith stuck the landing for a 9.9 on bars, drawing cheers from her teammates. Sophomore Kelsey Slade replaced freshman Kamila Pawlak in the final floor spot, making her first competitive appearance in two months. Slade also competed in the all-around during exhibitions.
“We’re building our depth, when that happens, for this year,” Kindler said. “And they’re building their confidence for years to come.”
The Sooners will close out their regular season at Michigan (9-3) at 6 p.m. Friday.
This story was edited by Laurie Jones.
