Sooners Have Heart
FREE light-up "Sooners Have Heart" will be given to the first 500 fans. FREE t-shirts for the first 200 students and FREE cupcakes for the first 100 students will also be given away. FREE face painting, balloons, photo booth, and other activities are also available for kids.
THE SERIES
Two of the top teams in the nation, No. 2 Oklahoma (14-0) and No. 5 UCLA (7-1), will battle on Friday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. CT at the Lloyd Noble Center. The meet will be televised live on FOX Sports Southwest+ and FOX College Sports - Central.
UCLA is making its first-ever regular season trip to Norman to compete against the Sooners, who with 14 victories this season have the most wins of any team in the country. OU leads the regular season series with the Bruins 4-1, defeating UCLA in 1985, 1987 and 2003 before losing last season in Los Angeles by a 197.525-196.475 score.
A LOOK AT No. 5 UCLA
UCLA defeated its first seven opponents this season before dropping its first meet of the year last week to Oregon State due in part to numerous injuries. One of four programs to have ever won an NCAA women's gymnastics national championship, the Bruins are again one of the top teams in the nation this season and currently rank No. 6 on bars and beam, No. 7 on floor and No. 9 on vault nationally. The team is led by the current No. 1 all-arounder in the nation, Vanessa Zamarripa, who boasts a 39.595 all-around average. Zamarripa ranks No. 1 on floor, No. 3 on bars, No. 4 on beam and No. 7 on vault among all competitors. The Bruins are led by head coach Valorie Kondos Field, now in her 23rd season.
LAST WEEKEND - PERFECT 10 CHALLENGE
The No. 2 Oklahoma women's gymnastics team won the Perfect 10 Challenge at the COX Convention Center with a 197.450 team score, defeating No. 16 Boise State, BYU and TWU. OU tied a team record of five-straight meets with a 197 or better and scored well above its season average of 197.125. The Sooners improved to 14-0 on the season, the most wins of any team in the nation. Oklahoma defeated its sixth ranked opponent of the year in No. 16 Boise State, besting the Broncos' 195.575. BYU finished with 194.175 while TWU scored a 191.425. Senior Brie Olson fought through the flu this week to win the all-around with a 39.550, including a 9.95 bar score that was the best of any competitor of the night. OU swept the individual titles, with freshman Haley Scaman winning vault, Olson bars, sophomore Erica Brewer on beam and junior Taylor Spears on floor.
ALWAYS AT THE TOP
Coming in ranked No. 2 in the nation this week, the Sooners have been ranked in the top 3 all seven weeks of the 2013 regular season. OU has been ranked in the top 5 each of the past 18 regular season rankings and in the top 10 for 58 consecutive weeks overall dating back to midway through the 2009 season.
MAGIC NUMBER
The Sooners are the only team in the country to have scored a 197.000 or higher at three road meets this season (OU has done it at four) and one of only three teams in the country to have done it even twice on the road. OU currently holds a season average of 197.171 overall and has scored above a 197.000 in five-straight meets, tying a program record.
BEST ON BEAM
Oklahoma retains its No. 1 ranking nationally on beam with a 49.350 average. The Sooners' score of 49.525 at Iowa State and 49.475 at West Virginia are the two highest scores of any team in the country on beam. Junior Taylor Spears ranks No. 3 individually with a 9.879 average, one of three Sooners in the individual rankings along with Erica Brewer (No. 5) and Madison Mooring (No. 14).
In addition to beam, OU also ranks among the best in the country in each of the other three events, coming in at No. 3 on bars, No. 3 on floor and No. 6 on vault.
NOBLE ADVANTAGE
The last time Oklahoma was at home, the Sooners fed off the energy of 2,389 fans to post a then-season-best score of 197.350 against No. 11 Denver. The team score was the highest in a home opener in program history and the 10th-highest all-time for the Sooners. The second-largest crowd in OU history saw the Sooners dominate from start to finish, scoring above a 49.000 in all four events and sweeping the individual titles.
SOONERS EARN BIG 12 WEEKLY AWARDS
Senior Brie Olson was named Gymnast of the Week and freshman Haley Scaman was named Newcomer of the Week on Feb. 19 for their efforts in the Perfect 10 Challenge. Olson is the Gymnast of the Week recipient for the second time this season while Scaman has been honored fourth times this year. Olson fought through the flu in the preceding days before the Perfect 10 Challenge to win the all-around title with a 39.550 while Scaman won the Perfect 10 Challenge vault title with a 9.9, tying a career high. Oklahoma has won 19 of 21 Big 12 weekly honors this season, with eight different Sooners earning at least one award.
TITLEISTS
In seven meets this season, seven different Sooners have won individual event titles compared to eight over the course of the entire year in 2012. OU has claimed 35 titles overall, including 12 from junior Taylor Spears. OU gymnasts have excelled across all events, winning or tying for nine bar, seven all-around, seven vault, six beam and six floor individual titles.
