Sooners run away with Big 12 title behind 4 perfect scores
Mar. 23—Oklahoma started the meet with a bang and didn't slow down until it had won its third straight Big 12 title in a record-setting day at the Lloyd Noble Center.
The Sooners started on vault, where Jordan Bowers set the tone with her first perfect score in the event this season. Moving on to bars, Bowers posted another perfect score, her third straight in that event.
The momentum was building as the Sooners moved on to beam, where Ragan Smith added another perfect score to win her second Big 12 beam title in the last two seasons. Bowers helped the Sooners complete the gym slam with another perfect score on the floor exercise to seal the Sooners' win.
The top-ranked Sooners posted an NCAA-record 198.950 team score, which was set by UCLA back in 2004.
"This record, that has stood for twenty years, that is very unusual," head coach K.J. Kindler said. "It's very impressive, I can't even tell you. Vault in particular has changed since then, almost all the vaults were 10.0 back then, so the 1.5, which is the vault that we predominantly do, with the exception of Hannah, but all six of our vaults are 10s."
The Sooners never used a score lower than 9.900 and had 15 scores higher than that.
Bowers was named the Big 12 Gymnast of the Year after the meet and dominated the all-around with a score of 39.925. Her lowest score of the meet came on beam where she still posted an outstanding 9.925.
"It's exciting, everything coming together," Bowers said. "We all work so hard in the gym. Especially vault, I've really been working on those landings, and I stick multiple in practice every day. I've been super close the past few meets, so sticking that was a highlight for me. I've really worked on my confidence, my consistency and working on the little things this year. I'm having a great year so far, and I'm looking forward to the future and building off of that."
The Sooners will await their regional placement, which will either be Ann Arbor, Mich., Fayetteville, Ark., Berkeley, Calif. or Gainesville, Fla.
