Story & Photos
By Michael Kinney
For fans of women’s gymnastics, the Sprouts Farmer’s Marker collegiate Quad checked all the boxes. Not only did the field contain four of the top six teams in the nation and three of the past four national champions, it also featured a variety of Olympians and Olympic hopefuls.
Hyped as the biggest event of the regular season, the talent and drama lived up to the billing as No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 2 LSU went down to the wire to see who would grab the quad crown.
In the end, the Sooners were too strong on their final rotation and claimed the victory with a score of 197.950 at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. The defending champion Tigers earned took second 197.650, followed by a 197.275 from No. 6 Cal and a 196.800 from No. 4 Utah.
“It was amazing,” OU coach K.J. Kindler said. “Obviously, being in this amazing venue and people came out to watch it was a very exciting meet just as we anticipated down to the very last routine and LSU did an amazing job. They were pushing us all the way, so excited to get in front of our Sooner fans.”
The Sooners led wire-to-wire, posting the top event scores on bars (49.700), beam (49.525) and floor (49.525).
Despite that, heading into the final rotation, Oklahoma narrowly led the meet with a 148.250 over LSU (148.125), California (148.000) and Utah (147.725). While the Tigers would finish with the floor, Oklahoma concluded on the bars.
With the pressure on, the Sooners showed why they came into the season ranked No. 1. They put together an overwhelming string of performances.
The lineup included Dani Sievers, Addison Fatta, Lily Pederson, Faith Torrez, Audrey Davis and Jordan Bowers. Each of them hit 9.9 or higher to post a 49.700.
“That was gold,” Kindler said. “That rotation was gold starting from the very get-go. Dani Sievers has been our starter for four years and she has been out of the bar lineup due to an injury, but back in today and started that lineup off right where it needed to start. We watched stick after stick after stick. It did not disappoint.”
Led by Aleah Finnegan, the Tigers finished on the floor with a season-high 49.525. Finnegan, the 2024 NCAA Floor Champion, led with an impressive 9.975.
However, it was not enough to overcome the Sooners’ overall depth.
“I thought we did well. I thought we improved from week one and that was primarily what we wanted to do,” said LSU coach Jay Clark. “We didn’t want to make it about who else was on the floor. We know who Oklahoma is, we know who the better teams are in the country. We think we’re one of them, but I think we did a good job.”
Facing some stiff competition, Bowers took home the all-around title with a 39.675. Audrey Davis claimed the bars title with a near-perfect 9.975, while Torrez used a 9.975 of her own to take home the beam title. She also finished second in the all-around with a 39.625.
“This was a huge competition. Top six teams in the country in this very room. You can’t get a more competitive event this early in the season,” said Kindler. “What do we want to see? We want to grow from it. Definitely. We had some hiccups on vault. That’s been something that we’ve been working on. Addison Fatta, a freshman, had a little mistake there. But she needs to understand she can make a mistake that can happen and her team will have her back. These are the things you’re learning as you start your season is kind of how everybody ticks. So I’m really proud of them.”
Because they are now in the SEC, Oklahoma (6-0) and LSU (3-1) are not done with what could be a budding rivalry. The two squads will see each other again Feb. 14 in Baton Rouge and then at the SEC Championships March 22.
“We obviously have things we’ve got to improve on, but so does everybody,” said Clark, who was sporting a pair of Nike sneakers with the words ‘Protect the Throne’ scribbled on them. “It’s week two and I felt good about it.”
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