How did OU women's gymnastics set NCAA scoring mark? 'Records were made to be broken'

NORMAN — Records are brought up with Valorie Kondos Field often.

The 64-year-old former UCLA women’s gymnastics coach spoke at an event a little under a month ago honoring her late friend who gifted her the lengthy, grayish cardigan she wore that night. That friend — known to most of the world as one of the greatest college basketball coaches of all time — was John Wooden, and a U.S. stamp was being unveiled in his honor.

During the gathering on the school’s Los Angeles campus on Feb. 24, Field conversed with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar about the NBA’s all-time scoring record he held up until LeBron James broke it a few weeks before the two former Bruin legends crossed paths at the ceremony.

Her takeaway from the conversation?

“Records were made to be broken,” Field told The Oklahoman on Saturday night.

Field’s 2004 UCLA squad posted its all-time scoring record of 198.875 on Feb. 22, tying Stanford, which posted the same score two days prior. That record stood for 20 years until Saturday night when head coach K.J. Kindler’s OU women's gymnastics team shattered it with a 198.950. The No. 1-ranked Sooners’ (25-0, 4-0 Big 12) highest score in college gymnastics history helped win them their third-consecutive Big 12 Championship, defeating BYU, No. 8 Denver, Iowa State and West Virginia at Lloyd Noble Center.

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The Sooners finished the meet with five perfect 10s. It was the third time a team has recorded five perfect 10s in a meet (Georgia, Feb. 23, 1996 and Feb. 6, 1993). Senior all-arounder Ragan Smith recorded a 10 on beam, while junior all-arounder Jordan Bowers scored a 10 on vault, bars and floor and sophomore Faith Torrez added her first-career 10 on floor.

“The fact that ours lasted for 20 years is quite remarkable,” Field said of her team’s former record. “But, oh my gosh, K.J. and her staff have just built a dynasty there and their team is absolutely rock solid and consistent and does beautiful artistic gymnastics. It doesn't shock me or surprise me at all that they broke that record.”

Bowers, Smith, Torrez and Kindler paraded into the post-meet interview room going back and forth with one another about how fun the night was. The quartet wasn’t able to keep up with all the records they had just broken.

Two stats they didn’t mention: the meet marked the first time three gymnasts have combined for a gym slam in a single meet and the third time a team has posted a gym slam in a meet (Georgia, 1996 and Utah, 1995).

Saturday’s meet also marked the first time every Big 12 champion scored a 10, all Sooners. Besides the historic team record, numerous individual records were either broken or tied. Bowers is the first OU gymnast to earn three perfect 10s in one meet and is now the program record holder for 10s on floor.

“I don’t even know what to say,” said an emotional Kindler. “… To break so many records in one year (is rare). And to break this record that has stood for 20 years like that is very unusual. And someone said to me after the meet, ‘I really love watching this team. This team's a little different.’ And I absolutely agree. I don't think they take themselves too seriously.

“I don't think they dwell on mistakes and I think they're there for the other person. So if they do make a mistake, they're pushing the next person. … Very cohesive, a very good group.”

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OU's record-breaking performance is that much more impressive that it occurred in a post-scoring change world. When the Bruins’ and Cardinal’s score was achieved, start values in scoring were different and it’s widely known throughout the gymnastics community that it’s harder to achieve that high of a score in today’s day and age.

There are also more judges now — four — making it more difficult to achieve.

“It's very impressive,” Kindler said. “I can't even tell you. Vault in particular has changed since then. Almost all the vaults were 10.0s back then. … It is harder to do now because of that. But it's also harder because there are just some really great, incredible athletes out there (today) so I’m really proud of them.”

Since the rule changes, OU has recorded four of the top five team scores.

All of those scores have come in 2024.

Field acknowledges the scoring is different today and as a pioneer of the sport, she hopes the scoring will keep evolving.

“The sport needs to continue to evolve to stay vibrant and healthy,” Field said. “And the coaches will drive whatever changes are best for our sport. So yeah, it wouldn't surprise me if they made changes. And they should. Not that the scoring is bad, but it's just, I think you need to stay healthy.”

Bowers, who was named the Big 12 Gymnast of the Year Saturday night, is on another level right now and is a vital piece of the team’s success. She leads the nation in scoring, followed closely by teammate Katherine LeVasseur at No. 2, and now has the most perfect 10s on floor in OU history.

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Her 39.925 is now tied with her former U.S. national teammate LSU’s Haleigh Bryant and former Sooner Maggie Nichols for the fourth-highest all-around score in NCAA history, trailing Karin Lichey’s 40 (Georgia, 1996), Mohini Bhardwaj’s 39.975 (UCLA, 2001) and Suzanne Metz’s 39.950 (Utah, 1995).

Nichols has watched from afar how Bowers has navigated her career and said she’s proud to watch her compete.

“(She’s) absolutely incredible,” Nichols told The Oklahoman on Saturday night. “All of us have seen her talent and have seen her put up so many 10s. But to see her put up three in one night is incredible. I mean, you don't see that often or at all, and so I’m super proud of her mentality. Sometimes it can be difficult having one or two 10s and trying to stay focused just trying to do your best routines after scoring some 10s.

“I mean, obviously you want to get another 10 and another 10. So it's hard to stay focused. It's hard to stay in the zone and she truly did. I mean, I thought she was gonna get a perfect 40. She’s such an amazing leader on this team and it was so fun to watch.”

Nichols also reacted to Smith passing her for the most perfect scores on any event on Saturday. Smith has made a habit of breaking Nichols’ records, as she broke the latter’s beam record a few weeks ago, recording her eighth perfect score against Michigan on March 1.

“Her confidence really sparked this season,” Nichols said of Smith. “You can totally see it. In every single routine that she's doing, it’s close to perfection.”

Kindler’s dominance can’t be overstated.

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Like Field said, she’s built OU’s women’s gymnastics program into a dynasty, winning six national championships in 18 seasons and is seemingly on her way to a seventh. The Sooners’ most recent Big 12 title is their 11th of the last 12 conference championships.

When speaking of Kindler, also a friend of hers, she mentions her other companion, Wooden, in the same breath.

“What she's built that I personally have so much respect for,” Field said, “is in any sport, it’s fun when you win once. …  But her consistency and level of excellence with the athletes and the gymnastics that they do. … Truly, there's nobody in the country that does it better than her.”

Kindler recently told New York Magazine she has a hard time feeling satisfied.

Of course, after celebrating Saturday night’s victory for a few hours at Benvenuti's Ristorante on Main Street, Kindler’s mind will be onto regionals. But for a few moments post-meet, in her signature black attire, Kindler took in what the historic night meant. Not just to her, her team and her group of seniors, but to the entire collegiate gymnastics world.

For Field, when she realized the record her club held for 20 years was broken, her mind immediately went to the chat she shared with Abdul-Jabbar.

“Oh my gosh, this is so cool. I was just talking to him about this,” she thought to herself.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: How did OU set NCAA women's gymnastics scoring mark? Legends chime in