Products You May Like
FORT WORTH, Texas — It all comes down to today, as four teams will battle it out for the national title. Will Oklahoma win again? Or could Utah earn its first title since 1995? And don’t forget about Florida, which might have Trinity Thomas back again in several lineups, or LSU, a team that has overcome more injuries and obstacles than any other.
It’s sure to be an exciting, too-close-to-call competition. We’ll have live updates on all the action from Fort Worth:
Who to watch: Well … everyone
Utah earned the highest score of semifinals, boosted by the return of Olympian Grace McCallum from injury and anchored by newly crowned all-around champion Maile O’Keefe, who earned one of only two 10s of the competition. The team has been very consistent in the postseason and is superb on beam especially, where titles are often won and lost.
MAILE O’KEEFE WITH A 10 TO TAKE THE ALL-AROUND TITLE 🔥 pic.twitter.com/nFfnSJ2nyl
— ESPN (@espn) April 14, 2023
Defending champion Oklahoma is considered the favorite, though the Sooners did place second to Utah on Thursday by the narrow margin of .063. This is only the second time any team has beaten them all season.
Led by Olivia Trautman, who won the vault title and was fourth on beam with scores of 9.95 on each, the Sooners will want to be a little bit better in order to win. This is especially true on bars, where they are ranked No. 1 and were nearly .200 behind Utah on Thursday.
OUR STICK QUEEN WITH A 9.950 ON VAULT! 👑
📺 ESPN2
💻 https://t.co/LhfapxMWwi
📈 https://t.co/UFBc2l35WJ@OTrautman | #BoomerSooner pic.twitter.com/rjHqrxWECj— Oklahoma Women’s Gym (@OU_WGymnastics) April 14, 2023
Florida’s heart and soul is Trinity Thomas, who was able to do two events in the semifinals despite an injury to her leg that had forced her to withdraw from regionals two weeks ago. Not surprisingly, she contributed big on both. Will she compete again? All signs point to yes, and when combined with the huge scores of Kayla DiCello, Leanne Wong and the rest of the deep team, it’s still possible for the Gators to make a title run.
Back like she never left 😤@Gym_Trin with a 9.95 on bars @GatorsGym pic.twitter.com/mQfQzII1gP
— espnW (@espnW) April 13, 2023
LSU has had the unluckiest of years, with injuries to so many on the team that coach Jay Clark has said he’s out of gymnasts to choose from when it comes to lineups. On Thursday, the Tigers rallied yet again to qualify into finals, and their Cinderella story could very well continue. Aleah Finnegan and Haleigh Bryant are two of the best all-arounders in the country, and the entire squad has proved it can step up when needed. — Amy Van Deusen
SHE. DELIVERS.
That’s a 9.9625 for @aleahfinn
📺 ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/KcYp32H2ak
— LSU Gymnastics (@LSUgym) April 13, 2023
Championship history
Georgia has won the most national titles overall, with 10, and had a streak of five titles in a row from 2005 to 2009. But the Bulldogs haven’t won since 2009 and did not qualify to compete in Fort Worth this year.
Utah dominated the 1980s to the mid-1990s and has nine titles overall, with the most recent coming in 1995. Recently, Oklahoma has been the team to beat, with five national titles since the Sooners first won in 2014 (a tie for the title with Florida — the only tie in history).
All-time national title list
Georgia: 10 (1987, 1989, 1993, 1998-99, 2005-09)
Utah: 9 (1982-86, 1990, 1992, 1994-95)
UCLA: 7 (1997, 2000-01, 2003-2004, 2010, 2018)
Alabama: 6 (1988, 1991, 1996, 2002, 2011-12)
Oklahoma: 5 (2014 [tied], 2016-17, 2019, 2022)
Florida: 3 (2013, 2014 [tied], 2015)
Michigan: 1 (2021)