Denver, Lindenwood and Texas Woman’s at Oklahoma

Recap

The Big Storyline: Oklahoma had a good-not-great meet. Ragan Smith returned on bars, but the Sooners weren’t without their struggles. Beam was particularly shaky, and many landings overall weren’t up to par with what we’re used to from the Sooners. Denver put up one of its better performances of late and notched its second-highest total score of the season. Floor was a weaker event, but Lynnzee Brown’s 9.975 propelled the team total. It was probably Denver’s best vault rotation of the year, though the Pioneers left tenths on the table elsewhere. 

Implications: Conference rankings remain unchanged. With NQS starting, Oklahoma will move up from No. 3 to No. 2, while Denver falls down to No. 13 with other teams being able to drop low scores. Denver will want to replicate or better this score moving forward if it wants to move back up into the top 10. 

Records: Emily Glynn’s 9.925 on vault is a new career high. Jessica Hutchinson also set a new career high of 9.900 on floor. Audrey Davis notched a career high 9.950 on vault. KJ Kindler reached a milestone 500 career wins overall.

Preview

Current Rankings: No. 10 Denver, No. 44 Lindenwood and No. 45 Texas Woman’s at No. 3 Oklahoma 

Why You Should Clear Space on Your DVR: Oklahoma has rebounded from its early-season slump in a big way, averaging a 197.333 in its past three meets. Texas Woman’s set five new career highs en route to a second place finish at Metroplex; this is a team to watch! Lindenwood’s vault lineup is currently ranked 20th—two spots higher than Denver for those keeping track—and absolutely worth watching. Speaking of Denver, the Pioneers are one of the best bars and beam teams in the country, and are capable of going 197-plus on a good day. 

You Can Fast Forward, but not Through This: When the Sooners hit beam, they hit beam: They’ve posted some of the highest beam scores this season. Also keep an eye out for Texas Woman’s floor rotation; Isabel Goyco’s Rickrolling routine is a whole lotta fun.