Sooners' women's gymnastics team is entering NCAA Championships with 'OU vs. OU' mindset
NORMAN — Being the favorite is nothing new to K.J. Kindler and the OU women’s gymnastics team.
But this time, the Sooners are prohibitive favorites.
The Sooners (35-0) are looking for their third consecutive national title and seventh in program history.
“We didn’t set out to be undefeated obviously,” Kindler said ahead of Thursday’s NCAA semifinals at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. “That is not a goal you make at the beginning of the year but what an incredible run they have had. They have met the best of the best this season.”
The Sooners are in the second semifinal of the day, which begins at 8 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN2.
OU is a combined 9-0 against the other seven teams in the championships, with at least one win over every team except Florida.
Twelve times this season, the Sooners have posted a 198-plus score, the most in NCAA history. No other team in the sport’s history has reached the mark more than 10 times. OU has scored at least 198 in every meet since Jan. 26.
In nine consecutive meets, the Sooners have posted a score of 198.300 or higher. No other school in NCAA history has reached the mark more than twice in a row.
“As a coach you’re trying to peak them at a certain time,” Kindler said. “But they just weren’t coming down. Certainly our practices changed but our results didn’t. I think that probably speaks to our heart and it probably speaks to our leadership.”
More: Oklahoma women's gymnastics team wins Big 12 championship with NCAA-record score
The lofty numbers put a different type of pressure on OU entering Thursday’s semifinals.
Other than an early season injury to Danae Fletcher, who was expected to be in the Sooners’ lineup, any adversity OU has faced has mostly been internal.
“Other than that, our own adversity comes from within ourselves,” Kindler said. “We have to look in the mirror and that’s who we have to beat every day and that includes when we go to practice, that includes when we go to competition. OU vs. OU. That’s where our focus has to be and it has been.”
The Sooners have uncommon experience, with seven seniors, including Ragan Smith, who is ranked No. 1 in the balance beam, and Audrey Davis, who is tied with teammate Jordan Bowers for the top spot in the uneven bars.
Several other seniors, including Katherine LeVasseur and Bell Johnson, have been critical pieces for OU’s run.
“Seven seniors, that’s heavy,” Kindler said. “That’s heavy leadership and many of them are natural-born leaders in that group, whether that’s by example or verbally. They all lead in very unique ways, which I think the young athletes on our team were probably drawn to one leader or another because of their style and I think they always found a leader that would work for them.”
While the Sooners enter the competition as the prohibitive favorites, it will be far from easy.
OU’s semifinal also includes Alabama, Florida and Utah.
Only seven teams have ever won a national title in the sport and all four in the semifinal have won multiple titles. They have combined for 24 of the 42 team national titles awarded in the sport’s history.
“It is brutal,” Kindler said. “The strength is very high. We’re going to have to be really consistent.”
More: How did OU women's gymnastics set NCAA scoring mark? 'Records were made to be broken'
The Sooners’ side of the bracket also held to form with the national seedings, while the other side featured upsets that resulted in No. 6 Denver being beat out for the second spot in their regional by unranked Stanford and No. 10 Arkansas eliminating No. 7 Kentucky, while No. 2 LSU and No. 3 Cal also advanced.
The top two finishers from each semifinal will advance to Saturday’s Four on the Floor, which begins at 3 p.m. on ABC.
The Sooners are one of just two teams to make the NCAA Championship in every year since 2004 and if OU can advance to Saturday’s finals, it will be the only school since 2013 to make the finals every year.
“Making it this far, we never take it for granted,” Kindler said. “We’re in the final eight, which is not easy to do and we saw a lot of ranked teams not make it here this year and that’s becoming more and more common every year.”
Kindler said the Sooners were healthy this week with the exception of Fletcher, who is battling strep throat, which has swept around the team in recent weeks.
NCAA Championships
What: Semifinal II (vs. No. 4 Florida, No. 5 Utah and No. 8 Alabama)
How to watch: 8 p.m. Thursday at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas (ESPN2)
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU women's gymnastics: Sooners looking for third consecutive title
