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It was a monumental evening for the Oklahoma Sooners women’s gymnastics program, posting a score of 198.3375 — the second-highest overall team score in the history of the event — to finish the season undefeated and capture the fourth national championship in program history
Make it four.
— Oklahoma Women's Gym (@OU_WGymnastics) April 21, 2019
The Sooners go UNDEFEATED and win their fourth national title!
Quick Recap: https://t.co/NQnFKpdpGk pic.twitter.com/j7IpWqoWe1
Oklahoma began on the uneven bars and posted a score of 49.450, which was good for second amongst the four squads. However, OU really asserted itself in the second rotation, posting an incredible 49.6125, led by a 9.9625 from NCAA individual champion Maggie Nichols.
Alicia Keys hits "this girl is on fiiiiiire" as @MagsGotSwag12 is on FIRE and sticks her landing!
— Oklahoma Women's Gym (@OU_WGymnastics) April 21, 2019
It's a 9.9625 for the junior!
This @OU_WGymnastics beam team is out for blood tonight. That was one of the best sets I’ve seen from them all year.
— Meg McDonald (@Meg__McDonald) April 21, 2019
Oklahoma kept it going in the third rotation with a 49.6500 on the floor, as Nichols and Olivia Troutman led the way with 9.9500 scores. Senior Brenna Dowell also impressed with a 9.9375.
Hey @Lin_Manuel, @brennadowell loves Hamilton, so we made her into Hamilton for our final meet of the season!
— Oklahoma Women's Gym (@OU_WGymnastics) April 21, 2019
She just CRUSHED her final floor routine for a 9.9375! pic.twitter.com/scTw3QwXbA
Heading into the final routine, Oklahoma had a sizable lead on the opposition and simply needed to take care of business on the vault. They did that and much more, posting a score of 49.6250 with a big punctuation from Dowell.
About as close to perfection as you can get pic.twitter.com/F9z3mbYopz
— espnW (@espnW) April 21, 2019
NATTY CHAMPS BABY! OU SOFTBALL LOVES @OU_WGymnastics !! ♥️♥️ #SistersSupportSisters CONGRATS! pic.twitter.com/zI2R2xoxca
— Sydney Joy Romero (@syd_syd2) April 21, 2019
Unfortunately, the men’s team wasn’t able to take care of business to claim the program’s 13th NCAA Championship, which would’ve been the 10th for head coach Mark Williams. Some late slip-ups on the high bars sunk the team’s hopes of claiming a fifth straight title, as Stanford ended up edging the Sooners by .7 points. The loss also snapped the program’s streak of 114 consecutive victories.
The streak comes to an end in Champaign.
— Oklahoma Men's Gym (@OU_MGymnastics) April 21, 2019
OU takes second with a team score of 414.556 to Stanford’s 415.222.
Thank you for all your support, Sooner Nation. This team will be back. Thank you seniors for some incredible careers. pic.twitter.com/XyrHoSxHM9
- Stanford - 415.222
- Oklahoma - 414.556
- Nebraska - 407.489
- Michigan - 406.354
- Illinois - 405.358
- Penn State - 399.725
OU was led by Genki Suzuki, who finished third in the overall results with a score of 83.198.
It’s rough for the season to end like this, but it can’t be overstated how incredible the careers have been for the program’s seniors. Yul Moldauer, who suffered a setback on the final rotation, is an Olympic hopeful, so while his OU career has come to a shocking end, his future is incredibly bright. We also need to appreciate how incredible this run has been for this program and reflect on the dynasty OU has sustained for so long. You’d best believe this team will be back for blood in 2020, so I’d fully expect the Sooners to be back on top beofre too long. Until then, hats off to this Stanford team.
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