OU Set for Tri-Meet at Denver

NOTES AND NUMBERS FOR MEET FIVE

MEET BASICS

The No. 5 Oklahoma women’s gymnastics team is set for its first of three road trips in the month of February when it travels to No. 8 Denver. The Sooners will take part in a tri-meet with Denver and Temple on Sunday at 3 p.m. CT. This is the second top-10 matchup of the season for Oklahoma. The Sooners hosted No. 3 Utah on Jan. 17, earning a win over the Red Rocks in Norman.

LOOK BACK AT IT

Facing West Virginia for the second time in eight days, the Sooners prevailed to take down the Mountaineers, 195.850-194.775, Sunday night in Norman. The Sooners posted their highest floor score of the season with a 49.375. OU added a 49.400 on bars and a 49.225 on vault to earn three team event titles on the night. Senior Evy Schoepfer and junior Allie Stern shared the vault title with matching 9.9s. Freshman Audrey Davis won her third consecutive title on bars with a career-high 9.95. Anastasia Webb took home three event titles for the second week in a row earning the top marks on beam (9.875), floor (9.925) and the all-around. Sophomore Ragan Smith shared the floor title with Webb with a matching 9.925.

MILESTONE WATCH

Kindler is closing in on not one, but two coaching milestones in her illustrious career. The 2021 season will see Kindler achieve her 400th win as the head coach at Oklahoma and her 500th overall career win. Only six wins separate the two milestones for Kindler. At press time, she needs just four wins to reach 400 at Oklahoma and 10 wins to reach 500 in her career. Prior to Oklahoma, Kindler tallied 94 wins as the head coach at Iowa State (2001-2006).

WINNING WAYS

With a 4-0 record to start the 2021 season, the Sooners have extended their winning streak to 52 consecutive wins, dating back to the 2019 season. OU’s last loss came at the 2018 NCAA Championships when they finished as the runner-up.

This is the second longest winning streak in school history for the Sooners who have posted three streaks of 50 victories or more. From 2016-2018, the Sooners had 75 consecutive victories, including a perfect season in 2017. From 2014-2015, the Sooners won 50 consecutive meets. OU currently has the nation’s longest active win streak. Florida currently ranks second with 14 consecutive wins after going undefeated in the shortened 2020 season.

WONDERFUL WEBB

Senior Anastasia Webb has been called one of the most underrated gymnasts in the NCAA and has been quietly building an impressive resume in her four years as a Sooner. Currently, Webb has 45 individual event titles to rank sixth all-time in program history. Webb needs just five more to move into the top five. She also ranks in the top 10 with 13 beam titles (7th), 11 floor titles (9th) and 11 all-around titles (5th). Webb could easily move into second all-time in all-around titles as she needs just four more.

Webb is 100 percent in participation, having competed in every single meet during her career. She boasts a hit percentage of 95.5, nailing 130 of 136 career routines. Webb has competed in the all-around in 40 of her 47 career meets and has competed at least three events in 46 of 47. She has never missed an opportunity to compete on bars or beam, competing those two events in all 47 career meets.

KINDLER VS. THE BIG 12

In 15 seasons, Kindler is 80-3 against current and former members of the Big 12 (not including regionals and NCAA Championships). Against current members of league (Denver, Iowa State, West Virginia), Kindler is undefeated in the regular season with a 41-0 record. At the Big 12 Championship, she is undefeated against current members with a 13-0 record against Iowa State, 7-0 record against West Virginia and 4-0 over Denver.

ROAD WARRIORS

For just the second time in 2021, the Sooners will travel away from the friendly confines of Lloyd Noble Center. Three of the Sooners’ first four meets took place at home as 2021 marked the first time since 2017 that OU did not start the season on the road.

Though the Sooners had just one meet on the road in January when they traveled to West Virginia, the Sooners will spend most of February and March away from home. OU will face Denver and Temple (Feb. 7), Iowa State, Centenary and TWU (Feb. 13), NC State and George Washington (Feb. 19), TWU (March 7) and Iowa State (March 14) on the road. The Sooners will be away from Norman for the first three weekends in February. In March, the Sooners will be at home for the final time on March 5, before spending the remainder of the season on the road. 

STERN HONORED BY THE BIG 12

For the first time in her career, junior Allie Stern has been named the Big 12 Event Specialist of the Week. Stern notched a season-high 9.9 on her Yurchenko 1.5 Sunday night to help the Sooners defeat West Virginia. Her score helped her to bring home her second vault title of the season. The Charlotte, N.C., native joins freshman Katherine LeVasseur as Sooners who have earned event specialist of the week in 2021.

QUICK HITS

• OU was ranked No. 2 in the WCGA preseason coaches poll, the seventh-straight season the Sooners have been ranked in the top two to begin the year.
• A freshman has won the uneven bars title in all four meets this season for the Sooners. Katherine LeVasseur won the first week and Audrey Davis has won the last three.
• Oklahoma’s roster this season features 12 returning gymnasts from the 2020 squad including three who combined for seven All-America honors in senior Anastasia Webb, junior Allie Stern and sophomore Ragan Smith.

SCOUTING REPORT

SCOUTING DENVER
Denver is 2-1 on the year after suffering their first loss of the season on Jan. 31 to Big 12 rival Iowa State. The Pioneers are currently ranked eighth in the latest RoadToNationals rankings. Denver has a pair of top five rankings coming in at No. 3 on bars and No. 4 on beam. The Pioneers are also ranked 19th and 21st on floor and vault, respectively. Lynzee Brown has returned from injury for her senior season and is once again leading DU as an all-around competitor. Head coach Melissa Kutcher-Rineheart added freshman Rylie Mundell who has come out strong with a career-high of 9.975 on bars in just the second meet of the season.

SCOUTING TEMPLE

Temple has yet to compete away from the East Coast as they make the trip out West with an 0-5 record. In their last meet, the Owls narrowly missed out on their first win of the season as they fell to New Hampshire by just 0.025. The Owls are ranked 45th in the nation, but boast a top-25 floor squad as they are currently ranked 20th in the nation with a 48.992 average.

UP NEXT

The Sooners will travel down to the Lone Star State to defend their title at the annual Metroplex Challenge on Saturday, Feb. 13. OU has won the last two times and will look to make it three straight when it takes on Centenary, Iowa State and TWU inside the Fort Worth Convention Center. The meet is slated for a 7 p.m. start.