OU Gymnastics: Oklahoma Sweeps Weekly Big 12 Honors Ahead of Showdown With Florida

Jordan Bowers, Kat LeVasseur and Faith Torrez took home this week's conference accolades, but the big prize is at stake when the Sooners host the Gators.

By OU Media Relations

For the fourth time this season, a trio of Oklahoma gymnasts swept the weekly Big 12 Conference honors, the conference announced Tuesday. Jordan Bowers was named Gymnast of the Week, Katherine LeVasseur was Event Specialist of the Week and Faith Torrez was named Newcomer of the Week.

Bowers notched her 11th weekly league honor and sixth Big 12 Gymnast of the Week accolade. LeVasseur’s second Big 12 Event Specialist of the Week accolade is her fourth weekly league honor and second this season. The most for a single gymnast this season, Torrez earned her fourth consecutive weekly conference honor and sixth overall. Oklahoma’s Torrez (six), Bowers (four), LeVasseur (two) and sophomore Danielle Sievers (two) are the only gymnasts this season to earn multiple weekly conference accolades.

In front of 6,200 fans – the fifth-best crowd in program history and Oklahoma's second largest for a conference meet – the trio were all instrumental in leading the Sooners to a school-record score of 198.575 in a win over West Virginia (195.675) on Friday Night. The team score tied for fifth best in NCAA history. With its fifth straight score at the 198-mark, the team surpassed their own nation’s best score this season, improving to 12-0 in 2023 and holding the best scores nationally at home, on the road (198.425) and at a neutral site (198.125).

Bowers (floor) and LeVasseur (vault) were two of 11 perfect 10s nationally on the weekend, including the only two from the Big 12. Bowers and LeVasseur’s second career perfect 10s tie them for eighth overall in program history for career perfect 10.0 scores with Chayse Capps and Kiara Redmond. Bowers’ perfect score and Torrez’s career-high tying 9.950 on floor helped the Sooners match a season-high 49.675, the fourth-highest in program history.

Bowers earned Oklahoma’s first perfect 10 on floor since teammate Olivia Trautman on Feb. 15, 2019. The 10.0 on the event marked her second career perfect 10 and third on floor over the weekend. She also won her second floor title this season and seventh overall. Bowers captured her fifth straight all-around crown and sixth in her career with a 39.725. She posted her eighth consecutive score of 39.500 or higher this season and is the only gymnast in the conference to earn a score of 39.725 or higher in the all-around this season. The Lincoln, NE, native also won her fourth consecutive beam title and fifth overall with a 9.950. She has earned four straight scores of 9.900 or higher and six total this season on the event.

Over the weekend, Bowers led the Big 12 on beam, floor and in the all-around. She is ranked in the top 15 nationally on all four events and in the all-around, including top 10 on beam (9.940 NQS, T-4th), in the all-around (39.670, 5th) and on vault (9.915 NQS, T-6th). She leads the Big 12 on beam and in the all-around, and is second on vault, bars (9.925) and floor (9.935).

LeVasseur nailed a gorgeous Yurchenko 1.5 for her first perfect 10 this season on vault and second in her career. The last time she scored a perfect score was last season’s home opener against Alabama on Jan. 9, 2022. She also won her third vault title this season (sixth overall) and now has 11 career event titles to her credit. In the national standings, LeVasseur jumped six spots to No. 4 (tied) with an NQS score of 9.925 and led the conference over the weekend with the highest vault score. She was one of four perfect 10s on vault over the weekend and the 10th gymnast this season to score a 10.0 on the event.

Torrez tied career-highs on floor (9.950) and beam (9.900) and added a 9.875 on bars to finish as the top freshman in the conference on all three events over the weekend. For the third consecutive week and fifth time this season, Torrez matched a career-high 9.950 on floor and has placed second or higher on the event in seven out of eight meets this season. The Bristol, WI, native was one of five consecutive 9.9-plus scores to start the beam lineup, matching a career-high 9.900 in back-to-back weeks and meeting that mark for the fourth time this season. One of six consecutive stuck bars dismounts for the Sooners on Friday night, Torrez earned her sixth score of 9.850 or higher on the event.

In the current national rankings this season, Torrez is the top freshman in the Big 12 on three of four events – bars (9.875), beam (9.885) and floor (9.945). She is also the top freshman nationally on floor and sixth overall.

Oklahoma will look to carry its momentum this weekend when they host No. 2 Florida on Friday at 7:45 p.m. The teams finished first and second, respectively, at last year's NCAA Championships and have combined for eight national titles over the last decade.