In Friday night’s matchup between the No. 16 Illinois Fighting Illini and the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners, the top team proved their rank in a dominating win, 197.875-195.950.

To begin the meet, the Illini had a relatively rough start on vault with two scores below a 9.700. Luckily for them, they dropped the 9.525. Junior Giana O’Connor led the lineup with a strong Yurchenko full earning a 9.875.

Meanwhile on bars, the Sooners were doing what they do best, excelling. All six of their routines earned a 9.850 or higher. Junior Haley Scaman posted a 9.925 to lead the Sooners into an early lead, 49.400-48.725.

In the second rotation, Illinois continued to show their consistency on bars, scoring a 49.050. But its bars scores were no match for Oklahoma’s explosives vaults. Half of Oklahoma’s vaults earned a fantastic 9.925. Their scores were so high that they dropped a 9.825, just .05 more than Illinois’ highest score on the event. The No. 1 team held onto their lead, 98.850-97.775.



Sunny Kato does a sheep jump while practicing beam during touch warm-ups.

Although bars has been the Illini’s best event this season, their best score of the night came on beam, head coach Kim Landrus’ signature event. There, Sunny Kato led the entire competition with her 9.950. This tied the program high and set a new career high for Kato.

More 9.925’s came on floor for the Sooners, where Ali Jackson and Scaman, the final two in the Sooners’ lineup, impressed the judges with their tumbling. The Sooners continued to dominate and maintained the lead, 148.300-146.900.

Illinois ended on a strong note with floor, where O’Connor proved she’s as good as a Sooner by tying Scaman and Jackson’s 9.925. Floor was a good event for Illinois, as their scores did not fluctuate at all as they went through the lineup, increasing as they went.



Haley Sorenson shows off her flexibility on beam.

Like Landrus, Oklahoma head coach K.J. Kindler is also the beam coach, and it showed. Kindler thought it was possibly the best beam lineup all season. All counting scores were a 9.900 or above, yet no one could catch Kato’s 9.950.

At the end of the lineup, Jackson exhibitioned on the event and improperly executed her dismount, landing on her back instead of her feet. Via Oklahoma’s Twitter, Jackson cut her forehead and was sent to the hospital to get stitches. Although Jackson left Huff Hall on a stretcher, Kindler gave a thumbs up and said she’s fine.


Watch videos from the meet here. Full results below.  

Team Standing  (Top)

Place	Team	Score
1	Oklahoma	197.875
2	University of Illinois	195.950

 

Oklahoma  (Top)
Head Coach:  K.J. Kindler

Gymnast	Vault	Bars	Beam	Floor	AllArr
Erica Brewer		9.875	9.900	9.850
Chayse Capps	9.925		9.925	9.775
Rebecca Clark		9.850	9.925
Brenna Dowell	9.925	9.875		9.900
Ali Jackson	9.825			9.925
Keeley Kmieciak	9.850	9.875	9.825
Kara Lovan	9.825		9.900	9.850
Haley Scaman	9.925	9.925		9.925
Haley Sorensen			9.925
McKenzie Wofford		9.850
Team Totals	49.450	49.400	49.575	49.450	197.875

 

University of Illinois  (Top)
Head Coach:  Kim Landrus

Gymnast	Vault	Bars	Beam	Floor	AllArr
Erin Buchanan	9.700	9.700	9.750	9.825	38.975
Kelsi Eberly				9.700
Heather Foley	9.725		9.575	9.750
Jordyn Givens	9.525
Mary Jane Horth	9.750	9.850	9.850	9.800	39.250
Sunny Kato		9.800	9.950
Sarah Lyons	9.675	9.825
Jordan Naleway		9.750	9.775	9.750
Giana O'Connor	9.875	9.825	9.800	9.925	39.425
Team Totals	48.725	49.050	49.125	49.050	195.950

 

Vault Results  (Top)

Place	Gymnast	Team	Score
1	Brenna Dowell	Oklahoma	9.925
1	Chayse Capps	Oklahoma	9.925
1	Haley Scaman	Oklahoma	9.925
4	Giana O'Connor	University of Illinois	9.875
5	Keeley Kmieciak	Oklahoma	9.850
6	Kara Lovan	Oklahoma	9.825
6	Ali Jackson	Oklahoma	9.825
8	Mary Jane Horth	University of Illinois	9.750
9	Heather Foley	University of Illinois	9.725
10	Erin Buchanan	University of Illinois	9.700
11	Sarah Lyons	University of Illinois	9.675
12	Jordyn Givens	University of Illinois	9.525

 

Uneven Parallel Bars Results  (Top)

Place	Gymnast	Team	Score
1	Haley Scaman	Oklahoma	9.925
2	Keeley Kmieciak	Oklahoma	9.875
2	Erica Brewer	Oklahoma	9.875
2	Brenna Dowell	Oklahoma	9.875
5	Mary Jane Horth	University of Illinois	9.850
5	Rebecca Clark	Oklahoma	9.850
5	McKenzie Wofford	Oklahoma	9.850
8	Sarah Lyons	University of Illinois	9.825
8	Giana O'Connor	University of Illinois	9.825
10	Sunny Kato	University of Illinois	9.800
11	Jordan Naleway	University of Illinois	9.750
12	Erin Buchanan	University of Illinois	9.700

 

Balance Beam Results  (Top)

Place	Gymnast	Team	Score
1	Sunny Kato	University of Illinois	9.950
2	Haley Sorensen	Oklahoma	9.925
2	Rebecca Clark	Oklahoma	9.925
2	Chayse Capps	Oklahoma	9.925
5	Kara Lovan	Oklahoma	9.900
5	Erica Brewer	Oklahoma	9.900
7	Mary Jane Horth	University of Illinois	9.850
8	Keeley Kmieciak	Oklahoma	9.825
9	Giana O'Connor	University of Illinois	9.800
10	Jordan Naleway	University of Illinois	9.775
11	Erin Buchanan	University of Illinois	9.750
12	Heather Foley	University of Illinois	9.575

 

Floor Exercise Results  (Top)

Place	Gymnast	Team	Score
1	Giana O'Connor	University of Illinois	9.925
1	Ali Jackson	Oklahoma	9.925
1	Haley Scaman	Oklahoma	9.925
4	Brenna Dowell	Oklahoma	9.900
5	Erica Brewer	Oklahoma	9.850
5	Kara Lovan	Oklahoma	9.850
7	Erin Buchanan	University of Illinois	9.825
8	Mary Jane Horth	University of Illinois	9.800
9	Chayse Capps	Oklahoma	9.775
10	Jordan Naleway	University of Illinois	9.750
10	Heather Foley	University of Illinois	9.750
12	Kelsi Eberly	University of Illinois	9.700

 

All Around Results  (Top)

Place	Gymnast	Team	Score
1	Giana O'Connor	University of Illinois	39.425
2	Mary Jane Horth	University of Illinois	39.250
3	Erin Buchanan	University of Illinois	38.975