It’s time to make room in the dynasty club. Oklahoma and gymnastics have become as synonymous as UConn and women’s basketball, Iowa and wrestling, Alabama and football, and the other all-time monumental college programs.
The Sooners tallied a 198.3875 on Saturday to win the 2023 NCAA gymnastics championship, repeating as winners, tying their own championship-record score, and securing their sixth title in the last nine years. After missing the championship final by a tenth in 2012, Oklahoma has made every one since and finished as champion or runner-up every year in that streak with the exception of 2015—when it finished third.
“I heard people are wearing T-shirts that say ‘Anyone but Oklahoma’ out in the audience. So that’s fun,” head coach KJ Kindler joked post-meet. “But you know, it’s OK. You take it.”
Silencing the haters is vital in establishing a dynasty, and the Sooners did just that in leading wire-to-wire en route to the title. Oklahoma vaulted out to the lead in the first rotation, with vault champion Olivia Trautman dialing in for another stellar landing before Jordan Bowers and Danielle Sievers hit back-to-back 9.9500s to anchor floor and seal the deal.
Florida—who saw Trinity Thomas tie UCLA’s Jamie Dantzscher and Kentucky’s…
