Nearing Another National Title, Oklahoma Will Rely on Both Youth and Experience

Coach K.J. Kindler says seniors like Olivia Trautman and Karrie Thomas have blended well with freshmen like Danielle Sievers and Jordan Bowers.

Oklahoma is on the cusp of another national championship.

The Sooner women’s gymnastics team has been ranked No. 1 for most of the season, and they go into Thursday’s NCAA Championships at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, TX, as the prohibitive favorite.

Coach K.J. Kindler — whose squad finished No. 2 last season despite an uncommon run of injuries — says the Sooners are “in a different place this year” because the roster is healthy and the depth is in place.

Fitness is good. The experience is there. The team is focused.

“So now kind of it's about getting your mindset in the right spot and having a championship mindset,” Kindler said.

But there’s more, Kindler said.

“One of our main focuses has been on team chemistry and making sure we're kind of all in sync when it comes to that,” she said. “I know I've mentioned before that I feel like that's one of the key components to winning a championship, and certainly something we can never stop working on. So that's definitely been an emphasis for our team.”

The makeup of this year’s team includes a heavy dose of seniors like Karrie Thomas, Olivia Trautman and Carly Woodard as well as a healthy portion of freshmen such as Jordan Bowers and Danielle Seivers. All have been major factors to the team’s success in 2022.

“I think obviously experience can never be underestimated,” Kindler said, “and their experience, that's what they're going to bring this weekend, is calmness. You know, you really have to be calm in these moments and really not project too much importance on them. Because we've worked hard all season.

“This is the seventh season we've been the No. 1 team in the nation at the end of the regular season. We have done the work. We have put in the practice. We have definitely had a successful competitive season. So now, here making the final eight, we don't take that for granted. It's hard to do every year.”

Kindler will need her freshmen to step up again. Sievers, for example, won the parallel bars at the Norman Regional last week. Bowers and Sievers shared the Big 12 title on floor exercise. And Danae Fletcher has been a consistent scorer and integral piece for the Sooners all season. Their experience in the postseason should help this weekend.

“I think every freshman, every athlete is different on how they handle these moments,” Kindler said. “And I think that's why we turned our focus really on our team more so than on those individual feelings. You know, we're trying to attack it as a group versus attack it one by one. I'm sure some emotions are stirring. You get those butterflies. But they, all three of them, have competed more this year than they probably have the last three years combined. So the experience that they've earned this year hopefully will step in when it comes to that big stage.”

On the big stage, of course, there’s no leadership like senior leadership, and the Sooners have plenty, starting with Trautman, who added to her list of career accomplishments by winning the vault at the Big 12 meet and then doing it again last week at the regional.

“Olivia is one of those people that, when she takes the floor, the team has full confidence in her,” Kindler said. “She has a little bit of swagger about her. But most importantly, like she puts in the work in the gym. They know that her mindset is very strong.”

OU is looking for its fifth national championship since 2014.

The Sooners will compete in Semifinal I on Thursday at noon against No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Utah and No. 8 Minnesota. No. 2 Florida, No. 3 and defending champ Michigan, No. 7 Auburn and No. 11 Missouri are on the other side of the bracket. Both semifinals will be televised by ESPN2.

The top two teams from each semifinal will advance to the finals on Saturday at noon. The championship round will be televised by ABC.