No. 2-seed Oklahoma won their third NCAA gymnastics championship in four years on Saturday, topping fellow finalists No. 4 Utah, No. 5 UCLA, and No. 7 Missouri with an overall score of 198.0125.
With seven titles since 2014, Oklahoma regains its reputation as the sport's current dynasty, finishing atop the podium after falling short of a three-peat last year.
"Our theme wasn't redemption this year at all," Oklahoma head coach K.J. Kindler told reporters after Saturday's victory.
"Does it make it sweet? Yes, but this team was capable of this last year. We just failed. And people fail all the time. They fail every day. And we talk about [it] all the time that the glory is in getting back up again."
Freedom allowed Oklahoma to reclaim NCAA gymnastics crown
Last year, the then-defending champion Sooners stumbled in a shocking loss in the national semifinals, a fate the 2024 champion LSU squad similarly suffered last Thursday, when the top-seeded Tigers failed to advance to the final meet of 2025.
Between overcoming the semifinals hurdles themselves and seeing LSU ousted — arguably Oklahoma's biggest competition entering the weekend — the Sooners were able to breathe easier and enjoy their last competition of the season.
"After advancing, and we got to today, we were free," said senior Audrey Davis. "We had no weight on our shoulders. We were free to do our best gymnastics."
That freedom had the Sooners leading the charge, finishing their first rotation on beam tied with eventual runners-up UCLA before taking full control of the meet — Oklahoma grabbed a second-rotation lead on the floor and never relinquished it.
As for the rest of the field, Missouri earned a program-record third-place finish in their first-ever NCAA final, while nine-time champions Utah closed their season in fourth.
For Oklahoma senior Jordan Bowers, the final weekend of her collegiate career was one for the books.
In addition to the team title, Bowers won the individual all-around competition during Thursday's semifinals — a day that also crowned LSU’s Kailin Chio (vault), Missouri’s Helen Hu (beam), and UCLA's Jordan Chiles (uneven bars) and Brooklyn Moors (floor) as national apparatus champions.
"Just truly a fairytale ending," Bowers said on the ABC broadcast. "I'm so freaking proud of this team, and I'm so proud to be a Sooner."
Oklahoma won the 2023 NCAA gymnastics team title on Saturday, the Sooners’ second straight national championship — and sixth title in nine years.
Oklahoma’s dynasty has become so strong that some fans at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, were sporting “anyone but Oklahoma” t-shirts — something the Sooners took in stride. They led after each rotation and topped the team standings with 198.3875 points, finishing 0.150 points ahead of second-place Florida. Utah (-0.450) and LSU (-0.862) finished third and fourth, respectively.
Oklahoma was steered by sophomore all-arounder Jordan Bowers and 2023 NCAA vault champ Olivia Trautman.
OUR SECRET WEAPON 💥
— Oklahoma Women's Gym (@OU_WGymnastics) April 15, 2023
Super senior @OTrautman earns a 9.950 on vault.
📺 ABC
💻 https://t.co/AtOBzXCu6Q
📊 https://t.co/00K4IFfRza#BoomerSooner pic.twitter.com/j3WztSdfwq
Also during Saturday’s NCAA team championship, Florida gymnast Trinity Thomas tied the NCAA record for career perfect 10s.