OU Gymnastics: Oklahoma Back on Top, Wins the National Championship

It’s another national championship for Oklahoma.

The Sooners and coach K.J. Kindler added to their incredible NCAA women’s gymnastics dynasty on Saturday with a dominant, wire-to-wire victory in Fort Worth.

The talent gathered at Dickey’s Arena was formidable, but No. 2-ranked OU, competing in the championship finals for the 11th time in the last 12 years, looked comfortable and confident as the Sooners outscored UCLA, Utah and Missouri to secure the program’s seventh national championship.

OU finished with a 198.0125, well ahead of the second place Bruins; 197.6125.

"This was a group that sacrificed for one another," Kindler said on her post-meet television interview. "This is a group that went out on a limb for one another. You can see it in their chemistry, it changed us and that's why we're here."

Since 2016, OU has won six national titles: 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2025.

Losing last year to LSU, and then losing this year's meet with the Tigers, who went into the postseason with OU's usual No. 1 ranking, motivated this year's Sooners.

"Obviously last year was a tough loss," said 2025 NCAA All-Around Champion Jordan Bowers, "but you have to grow from it, and we have learned so much this season. We've grown so much. You just have to take everything with a grain of salt and just move on, put your best foot forward, not make the moment bigger than yourself, and do what you know how to do every single day. That's exactly what we did."

No better feeling 🏆#BoomerSooner☝️ pic.twitter.com/VH0CKZvHZ2
— Oklahoma Women's Gym (@OU_WGymnastics) April 19, 2025

Oklahoma jumped to the pole position on the first rotation, tying with UCLA for first with a score of 49.6125 on balance beam (the Bruins opened on the floor exercise).

The Sooners were fantastic across the board as Audrey Davis and Addison Fatta both opened with 9.9000, followed by Lily Pederson’s 9.9375 — a score that Bowers duplicated. That left it open for Keira Wells, who scored 9.8500, and Faith Torrez, who stuck a 9.9375.

Kindler said she wrote down a target beam score of 49.6 before the meet, and her squad scored a 49.6125.

"What we did on beam was mind blowing, honestly," Kindler said. " ... I said, 'That's what it's going to take to win a national championship, and we we had a 49.61, or something like that. Sometimes you can manifest things."

In the second rotation, OU moved to floor and gained some separation with a stellar 49.5875 (UCLA stayed in second with a 49.2875 on the vault).

The veteran Davis again led off for Oklahoma with a 9.8875. Daniel Sievers followed that up with a 9.9125, and Elle Mueller continued the streak with a 9.9000. After Fatta’s 9.825, the Sooners truly separated with a 9.9250 by Bowers and a 9.9625 by Torrez.

At the midway point, OU built a substantial lead — 99.2000, ahead of UCLA’s 98.9000, Utah’s 98.6375 and Mizzou’s 98.3750. That wasn’t enough for Kindler’s squad, who scored a series of sub-9.9s on vault in Thursday’s semifinal but attacked the apparatus this time.

After Pederson opened with a 9.8625, Torrez slammed down a 9.9375, Wells dropped a 9.9000, and Fatta carded a 9.9250. That left plenty of cushion for Mueller, who took a big step on her landing and scored 9.8125. It was then up to Bowers to score big on her vault and all but clinch the title with one rotation left, but Bowers also had a huge hop on the landing and recorded a 9.7375.

Despite the two unexpected stumbles, OU actually extended its lead after three rotations, scoring 49.4375 on the vault and building a 0.3375-point lead over the Bruins, 149.6375 to 148.3000. That sent the Sooners and Bruins to arguably their best events — OU to the parallel bars and UCLA to the beam.

Sievers got things going for OU on the final rotation with a 9.8750, and Pederson laid down a 9.8000. Fatta was next and came up with a 9.8375.

Meanwhile, UCLA started strong on the beam with a 9.9250 from Emily Lee, but Katelyn Rosen scored a 9.7250. Jordan Chiles scored big on her routine with a 9.9375, putting pressure on the rest of OU’s athletes to finish strong.

Torrez came up with a 9.8500 for OU, and Chae Campbell scored a 9.6875 for the Bruins, placing all hopes on the final two gymnasts.

Davis executed a captivating routine with plenty of air on her release, then nearly stuck her landing to score a huge 9.9250, while UCLA’s Ciena Alipio took a big hop on her dismount and scored 9.7875 — clinching the crown for the Sooners with their best gymnast still to go.

Bowers knocked it out of the park with a 9.8875, plenty to take home the trophy. That pushed the Sooners to an event score of 49.3750, while UCLA scored a 49.3125.

For Bowers, Davis, Sievers and the OU seniors, it was their third team national championship.

"Oh my gosh, it has been more than I could have ever asked for," Bowers said. "This little girl, when I was 13, committed here and I dreamed of moments like these. To do it three times as a team, to do it individually is just such an incredible feeling."