Oklahoma women's gymnastics team rallies to win 4th NCAA title in 5 years

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FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Oklahoma senior Faith Torrez drilled the final routine of her career, delivering a steely and near-perfect performance on floor exercise as the last competitor on the final rotation to help the Sooners win the NCAA women's gymnastics championships Saturday.

Torrez, who won the NCAA all-around title Thursday, scored a 9.950 to give the Sooners a team total of 198.1625, just ahead of LSU at 198.0750. Florida was third while Minnesota closed the best season in program history by finishing fourth.

“It means everything, I'm so proud of this team,” Torrez said. “To do it with them, I wouldn't want to do it with anyone else.”

Oklahoma's second straight title, fourth in five years, and eighth since 2014 did not come easy. LSU surged to the front through three rotations thanks in part to a perfect 10 on vault by Kailin Chio, the first perfect score awarded at the national championships since 2023.

The Tigers finished on the balance beam while the Sooners went to floor exercise. At NCAA competitions, six gymnasts compete on each event, with the lowest score being dropped and the top five scores added together to produce the team total.

LSU's slim 0.0750 lead left them little margin for error. A fall by Lexi Zeiss on the beam — one that came after Zeiss was forced to endure a prolonged wait as the judges worked on teammate Kylie Coen's score — opened the door just enough for the Sooners to push through.

The Tigers rebounded behind Konnor McClain — the 2022 US Gymnastics national champion — and Chio.

The meet came down to the final two competitors, Torrez on floor and Chio on beam.

Torrez — who battled injuries all season and didn't even compete in the all-around until nationals — put together a dynamic 90-second performance, forcing Chio to be perfect for the Tigers to win.

Chio, who had 13 perfect 10s during the season, was dazzling, but her score of 9.900 was not quite enough to derail Oklahoma's dynasty.

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