Following a Big 12 Championship victory over No. 15 Denver, West Virginia and Iowa State, the Sooners (19-2) will host the NCAA South Central Regional from March 30-April 2.
Matchups were revealed on March 21, pitting No. 1 overall seed Oklahoma against No. 16 Arizona State (6-4), Arkansas (6-9) and the winner of West Virginia vs Arizona, which will take place at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 30.
Here are three things to know ahead of OU’s regional competition at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 31 inside the Lloyd Noble Center:
Sooners head into regional in stride
Heading into Thursday’s competition, the Sooners hold a nine-meet win streak.
Beginning with a bounce-back victory over then-No. 1 Michigan on March 4, Oklahoma’s winning ways bled into the Big 12 Championship on March 19, where it placed first to avenge last season’s year’s Big 12 loss to Denver.
“Our loss last year was a little haunting,” Kindler said. “We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores who have never won a Big 12 Championship, which is unusual. They really felt a little bit of pressure to go out there and make it theirs.”
The Sooners didn’t crack under pressure, taking home three of four event titles in the victory.
Even with OU holding ample momentum and the No. 1 ranking before the Big 12 victory, Kindler notes how earning the conference title increases confidence entering postseason competition.
“That Big 12 Championship was huge for us,” Kindler said. “Getting those young athletes out there in a winning situation in a championship meet, really great experience.”
Johnson and Dunn to compete before familiar faces
Sophomore Bell Johnson and junior Jenna Dunn feed off the home advantage that fans throughout Oklahoma provide.
An Oklahoma City native, Dunn has performed as a beam specialist since her freshman season at OU. Johnson, a Norman native, has performed as a floor specialist in both of her first two seasons with the Sooners.
Both have established large roles since the start of their collegiate careers. But the consistency this season has shown, as they have been trusted with the opening routine in their specific events in all 12 meets thus far.
“Sooner born, Sooner bred, all that stuff, they are it, all the way to the core,” Kindler said of the duo.
Throughout the season, Kindler has emphasized the uptick in Johnson’s confidence from her freshman year to her sophomore season. More experienced now, Johnson has tallied a 9.9 or higher on floor in six 2022 meets.
“I think that Bell has really come into her own this year,” Kindler said. “Last year, I think she was kind of dipping her foot in the pool.”
Kindler stressed the importance of Johnson’s confidence as the starter on floor, proclaiming her role as the most important in women’s gymnastics.
As for Dunn, the junior has tallied a 9.8 or better on beam in every meet this season, with her highest score a 9.925. Dunn’s reliability sets the tone for the upcoming routines.
“Nothing really rattles her,” Kindler said. “In these (regional) meets in which beam will be last, she has to stay warm the whole time, and I never have to tell her what to do. She is the master of herself.”
Despite the lingering nervousness that may come with performing in front of friends, family and the home crowd, Kindler notices nothing of the sort in Johnson and Dunn.
“If they’re scared,” Kindler said, “I can’t tell.”
Home sweet home
The Sooners haven’t hosted a regional competition since 2015. That was supposed to change during the 2023 season, but it came a year earlier after complications with the initially selected host site.
On March 4, it was announced that Illinois couldn’t host the NCAA South Central Regional due to a conflict within its campus community. The administrative committee of the Division I Competition Oversight Committee turned to Oklahoma, who accepted to host the competition inside the Lloyd Noble Center.
“It’s a perk for us in many ways,” Kindler said. “I think they selected someone else and then came back to us again. I don't really know exactly what happened. But, at the end of the day, we’re hosting, we’re excited to host and we’re doing our very best to be ready.”
The Sooners’ home advantage has been immense this season. When they are competing inside the Lloyd Noble Center, they feed off the crowd’s energy and find another gear in their performance. In all five home meets, at least one OU gymnast had tallied a perfect 10.
In a victory over Alabama on Jan. 9, both sophomore Katherine LeVasseur and senior Allie Stern notched perfect vaults inside the Lloyd Noble Center. Just a month later, junior Ragan Smith posted flawless 10s on beam in back-to-back home meets on Feb. 6 and Feb. 11.
The home crowd has influenced team performance in addition to individual competition. In three meets in Norman, Oklahoma has scored a 198 or higher.
As the Sooners anticipate another journey to a national title, they must take it meet by meet in order to compete to their fullest.
“Hey, this is just another meet,” Kindler said of regional competition. “It’s a steppingstone on our way to what we’re aiming for.”
