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:
Leo reveals
Sure, clothes don’t make the man and leotards don’t make the gymnast or whatever, but if you’re anything like us, you’re pretty excited to see exactly what each team will be wearing ahead of today’s competition. And thankfully we don’t even have to wait for the meet to start for those reveals. Florida, LSU and Oklahoma all gave sneak peaks of their looks on social media. (Utah did not but clearly the team wants to make a grand entrance and we kind of appreciate that too.)
The Gators had Leanne Wong hit the streets of Fort Worth to show off an all-white look, save for a rhinestone-encrusted blue crown on the sleeve. Some fans commented on a potential all-white-leotard curse so we’ll have to wait and see how that pans out.
Championship look ✨#GoGators | #WeChomp pic.twitter.com/9O5xiwq9RU
— Gators Gymnastics (@GatorsGym) April 15, 2023
The Tigers will be wearing a velvet and shimmery black-and-purple look that will surely make Kim Mulkey proud.
It’s Velvet Dior, darling #GeauxTigers | @AShchennikova pic.twitter.com/HpEUu9zfHx
— LSU Gymnastics (@LSUgym) April 15, 2023
The Sooners are giving full glam with glitter, mesh and so many diamonds. You know, reigning national champion things. — D’Arcy Maine
𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬 💎✨#BoomerSooner | @gkelite pic.twitter.com/RzooawIIq7
— Oklahoma Women’s Gym (@OU_WGymnastics) April 15, 2023
Trinity watch and warm-ups report
Thomas, featuring a heavily wrapped right leg, took some warm-up turns on beam, including two one-arm back handspring layout step-out series. She then appeared to receive some minor medical treatment during floor warm-ups, and did not go out on the floor. Later, she warmed up both vault and bars, though did not do a lot of skills on either. She is listed as competing on those two events on the preliminary rotation order, so that seems to be the probable outcome here: Bars and vault, as she did on Thursday.
Also of note in warm-ups: Oklahoma was sticking bar landings like no one’s business — and cheering loudly with every stick. Dani Sievers, Danae Fletcher, Jordan Bowers and Ragan Smith all ended their warm-ups with a stick. Audrey Davis’ dismount looked a little off for much of warm-ups, but then she went up one last time and nailed it.
LSU’s KJ Johnson did not warm up on floor, though she is listed on the preliminary line-up for today. Johnson returned from injury on Thursday, but limped off after competing her floor routine. Bryce Wilson and Olivia Dunne both warmed up on floor, and likely one of them is in the line-up today, possibly Dunne based off of the order they ran through routines. — Amy Van Deusen
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)
