Individual event champions were crowned, and eight teams were cut to four, as the 2019 National Collegiate Women's Gymnastics Championships opened Friday at the Fort Worth Convention Center. National Champion x 2⃣! @OU_WGymnastics' Maggie Nichols is the co-Vault and All-Around @NCAA National Champion. pic.twitter.com/ECRujN0fk9 — Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) April 20, 2019 Heading into the championships, Oklahoma's Maggie Nichols didn't look like she would be able to defend her 2018 all-around title. But she did just that. SHOP: BUY THE OFFICIAL 2019 OKLAHOMA NATIONAL CHAMPIONS T-SHIRT Nichols turned in a 39.7125 to edge out UCLA's Kyla Ross and Minnesota's Lexy Ramler, who tied for second with a 39.6625. Nichols had a 9.9500 on the vault, a 9.9375 on bars, a 9.9000 on the balance beam and a 9.9250 on the floor exercise. Maggie Nichols repeats as women's gymnastics individual all-around champ "This is the best I've felt the whole season, even at the beginning," said Nichols. "It was so amazing to come out tonight and hit four really good routines. "I wasn't focused on winning the all-around. I just really wanted to go out there and hit my routines for my team and help advance to the second day. It all came together perfectly at the end, which was incredible, and I'm so ready for day 2." For the seventh consecutive season, we're going back to the finals! RECAP: https://t.co/UwL7TckhEZ pic.twitter.com/TzOKVYgSeT — Oklahoma Women's Gym (@OU_WGymnastics) April 20, 2019 Nichols suffered a heel injury in mid-January and hadn't done a floor routine at a meet since then and only twice in competition all season. The junior had also skipped vaulting, except for the Perfect 10 Challenge on Feb. 15 and at the Athens Regional two weeks ago. "I've been training floor for a few weeks now, and I really had to step up this week because we had an injury in our floor lineup," Nichols added. "We came up with a new floor routine for me, and I was really confident that I could do it. I've been really focused outside of the gym to get really healthy, and I've been feeling really good." NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL The other individual national champions are LSU's Kennedi Edney, Ross, Nichols and Auburn's Derrian Gobourne, who all turned in a 9.9500 in the vault. LSU's Sarah Finnegan won the uneven parallel bars with a 9.9500. Michigan's Natalie Wojcik is the balance beam national champion after turning in a 9.9500. Ross, Florida's Alicia Boren, Denver's Lynnzee Brown and Oklahoma's Brenna Dowell shared the floor exercise title; all scored 9.9500. 2019 #NCAAGym Championships All-Around Results 1. Maggie Nichols, OU- 39.7125 2T. Lexy Ramler, Minnesota- 39.6625 2T. Kyla Ross, UCLA- 39.6625 4. Sarah Finnegan, LSU- 39.6500 5. Kennedi Edney, LSU- 39.6000 6. Lynnzee Brown, Denver- 39.5750 7. MyKayla Skinner, Utah- 39.5500 pic.twitter.com/VfNAcEd06C — FloGymnastics (@FloGymnastics) April 20, 2019 There were few surprises in the semifinals of the team competition, as all of the top seeds advanced to Saturday's final. No. 1 Oklahoma (197.8500) and No. 5 Denver (197.0375) moved on from the second session, while No. 2 UCLA (197.6750) and No. 3 LSU (197.5125) advanced from session one. Kennedi Edney: LSU gymnast chasing improvement, success before championships Denver just edged out Oregon State after the teams were tied at 147.6500 after three events. The Pioneers pulled it out with strong performances on the bars. It is Denver's fifth trip to the team championships, but the first time the Pioneers have reached the final round. Ross led UCLA with first-place finishes on vault (9.9500) and floor (9.9500) in the first session. The 2012 Olympic gold medalist finished fourth on the balance beam (9.9000) and a big step on her dismount on the bars contributed to a 12th place tie (9.8625) Here is where we started 9/7/18. I’ve enjoyed every moment this year! Excited for one more dance this weekend 💙💛 #NCAAgym #UCLAGymnastics pic.twitter.com/DRIapkqA9S — Valorie Kondos Field (@OfficialMissVal) April 18, 2019 It was dicey for LSU early in session one. The Tigers struggled on the beam to open but rallied to finish second on the floor and win the vault and bars. A wobble on the beam cost Utah's MyKayla Skinner a shot at the all-around title. Skinner, the all-around runner up the past two seasons, finished in the top three of each of the other three events, but a tie for 21st on the beam dropped her to 7th place. HISTORY: Every NC women's gymnastics champion ever Much has been made of the new format for the team championships. Starting in 1993, the top two teams from six regionals made it to the championships with the top three teams from two six-team semifinals reaching the Super Six. Starting this season, the top two teams from four regionals made it to Fort Worth with the top two from two four-team semifinals reaching the Four on the Floor. UCLA and LSU advance to the national championship final With only four teams and four events in each session, it cuts out the byes that had to take place with six teams and makes for a much cleaner, quicker event. "What a great meet and what a fabulous format," said LSU coach D-D Breaux, who is in her 42nd season as head coach of the Tigers. "It was so close and went down to the last two performers on the last event. I just can't say enough about the quality of competition and how this meet has been managed." Congratulations to D-D Breaux! The Dean of @SEC Coaches now has 800 career victories! #ForeverLSU pic.twitter.com/CGvY71XUXt — LSU Gymnastics (@LSUgym) April 19, 2019 On Saturday, doors open for the team championship at 4:30 p.m. with an autograph session scheduled from 4:30-5:30 p.m. The meet gets underway at 6 p.m. General admission tickets for Saturday's team championship are $25. This article is written by Darren Lauber from Fort Worth Star-Telegram and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.<doc-sep>The Oklahoma women's gymnastics team won its fourth national championship Saturday night in Forth Worth, Texas, posting an overall score of 198.3375.The Sooners, who have won three of the last four national titles in women's gymnastics, won the championship during a season that was dedicated to Dave Richardson, the late husband of the team's athletic trainer, Jenn Richardson. "We have had moments of sadness and we have had moments of triumph,” head coach K.J. Kindler said in a news release. “That is what families do; they go through all of those emotions together. This year has been a miracle. "To honor Dave Richardson, the team wore blue ribbons in their hair and had the hashtag "DIFD" (Do It For Dave) on their hands for every meet this season. "I know it is difficult what we went through as a team,” junior Maggie Nichols said. “We aren't a team; we are a family. This season we have grown so close. After losing Dave, we did it all for him. Every routine tonight was for him. He was there with us and helped us win this national championship. "OU tied with Florida for the national title in 2014 and was the outright champion in 2016 and 2017. The Sooners defeated LSU, UCLA and the University of Denver, none of which scored better than 197.825. The Oklahoma women's gymnastics team won its fourth national championship Saturday night in Forth Worth, Texas, posting an overall score of 198.3375. The Sooners, who have won three of the last four national titles in women's gymnastics, won the championship during a season that was dedicated to Dave Richardson, the late husband of the team's athletic trainer, Jenn Richardson. Advertisement "We have had moments of sadness and we have had moments of triumph,” head coach K.J. Kindler said in a news release. “That is what families do; they go through all of those emotions together. This year has been a miracle." To honor Dave Richardson, the team wore blue ribbons in their hair and had the hashtag "DIFD" (Do It For Dave) on their hands for every meet this season. "I know it is difficult what we went through as a team,” junior Maggie Nichols said. “We aren't a team; we are a family. This season we have grown so close. After losing Dave, we did it all for him. Every routine tonight was for him. He was there with us and helped us win this national championship." OU tied with Florida for the national title in 2014 and was the outright champion in 2016 and 2017. The Sooners defeated LSU, UCLA and the University of Denver, none of which scored better than 197.825.<doc-sep>
It was a monumental evening for the Oklahoma Sooners women’s gymnastics program, posting a score of 198.3375 — the second-highest overall team score in the history of the event — to finish the season undefeated and capture the fourth national championship in program history Make it four. The Sooners go UNDEFEATED and win their fourth national title! Quick Recap: https://t.co/NQnFKpdpGk pic.twitter.com/j7IpWqoWe1 — Oklahoma Women's Gym (@OU_WGymnastics) April 21, 2019 Oklahoma began on the uneven bars and posted a score of 49.450, which was good for second amongst the four squads. However, OU really asserted itself in the second rotation, posting an incredible 49.6125, led by a 9.9625 from NCAA individual champion Maggie Nichols. Alicia Keys hits "this girl is on fiiiiiire" as @MagsGotSwag12 is on FIRE and sticks her landing! It's a 9.9625 for the junior! — Oklahoma Women's Gym (@OU_WGymnastics) April 21, 2019 This @OU_WGymnastics beam team is out for blood tonight. That was one of the best sets I’ve seen from them all year. — Meg McDonald (@Meg__McDonald) April 21, 2019 Oklahoma kept it going in the third rotation with a 49.6500 on the floor, as Nichols and Olivia Troutman led the way with 9.9500 scores. Senior Brenna Dowell also impressed with a 9.9375. Hey @Lin_Manuel, @brennadowell loves Hamilton, so we made her into Hamilton for our final meet of the season! She just CRUSHED her final floor routine for a 9.9375! pic.twitter.com/scTw3QwXbA — Oklahoma Women's Gym (@OU_WGymnastics) April 21, 2019 Heading into the final routine, Oklahoma had a sizable lead on the opposition and simply needed to take care of business on the vault. They did that and much more, posting a score of 49.6250 with a big punctuation from Dowell. About as close to perfection as you can get pic.twitter.com/F9z3mbYopz — espnW (@espnW) April 21, 2019 Unfortunately, the men’s team wasn’t able to take care of business to claim the program’s 13th NCAA Championship, which would’ve been the 10th for head coach Mark Williams. Some late slip-ups on the high bars sunk the team’s hopes of claiming a fifth straight title, as Stanford ended up edging the Sooners by .7 points. The loss also snapped the program’s streak of 114 consecutive victories. The streak comes to an end in Champaign. OU takes second with a team score of 414.556 to Stanford’s 415.222. Thank you for all your support, Sooner Nation. This team will be back. Thank you seniors for some incredible careers. pic.twitter.com/XyrHoSxHM9 — Oklahoma Men's Gym (@OU_MGymnastics) April 21, 2019 Stanford - 415.222 Oklahoma - 414.556 Nebraska - 407.489 Michigan - 406.354 Illinois - 405.358 Penn State - 399.725 OU was led by Genki Suzuki, who finished third in the overall results with a score of 83.198. It’s rough for the season to end like this, but it can’t be overstated how incredible the careers have been for the program’s seniors. Yul Moldauer, who suffered a setback on the final rotation, is an Olympic hopeful, so while his OU career has come to a shocking end, his future is incredibly bright. We also need to appreciate how incredible this run has been for this program and reflect on the dynasty OU has sustained for so long. You’d best believe this team will be back for blood in 2020, so I’d fully expect the Sooners to be back on top beofre too long. Until then, hats off to this Stanford team.