Ragan Smith leads Oklahoma gymnastics to fifth national championship

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C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images

Oklahoma gymnastics captured the program’s fifth NCAA championship in eight years on Saturday, finishing ahead of Florida, Utah and Auburn with a score of 198.2.

Ragan smith clinched the title for the Sooners, scoring a 9.962 on beam during the final rotation to pull .112 points ahead of the Florida Gators.

Trinity Thomas did all she could for Florida, scoring a perfect 10 on floor to force Smith to pull out the best beam score of the day with the championship on the line.

The Sooners struggled early on in Saturday’s meet, with a season-low floor showing placing Oklahoma at the bottom of the leaderboard. A season-high vault performance and stellar rotation on bars, however, put the Sooners right back in the mix heading into the final rotation.

Oklahoma kept their composure on the balance beam to claim the NCAA title in dramatic fashion, capping off a historic season.