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TULSA — Running toward her cheering teammates after her balance beam brilliance, Faith Torrez threw in a little leap and a big smile.
She did not know that her routine would be scored a perfect 10, that it would win the balance beam title at the SEC Championships. Those results, it turns out, were not the source of the Sooner senior’s joy.
“I’m just happy to be here,” she said Saturday night at the SEC Championships, flashing that smile again. “I’m happy to be here doing it for my team. This team … I just want to go out there and do my best gymnastics for them.
“That’s kind of what I tell myself before I go on every event — do my best gymnastics for my team.”
More: OU women's gymnastics loses SEC title by slimmest margin, eyes NCAA repeat
Torrez, who finished third in the all-around at NCAAs a year ago, has done a lot of spectacular gymnastics for OU during her career. But as the Sooners enter the meat of the postseason, it is becoming increasingly clear that if they are to repeat as national champions, her impact will go beyond the scores she posts.
OU coach K.J. Kindler announced last week that she doesn’t expect Torrez to compete in the floor exercise for the remainder of the season due to ongoing medical issues.
At the SEC Championships, Torrez was used only on bars and beam, and while she was magnificent on both, scoring that 10 on beam and coming up just short of perfection on bars with a 9.950, this isn’t the senior season of her dreams.
“If she could, she would do all four events,” Kindler said. “She just can’t. So she’s finding joy in what she can do, and she’s definitely digging in with our team and in her leadership.”
Even though the top-ranked Sooners won an undefeated SEC regular-season title, then finished second to Florida by the smallest margin possible at the SEC Championships, this is a squad relying heavily on underclassmen. On Saturday at BOK Center, freshmen and sophomores filled at least four of the six spots in every event, and on floor, they accounted for five of six.
All told, the underclassmen filled 17 of 24 spots.
Freshmen had seven of them, nearly a third.
“This is such a young team. I keep telling people that,” Kindler said. “These freshmen, these sophomores, really young to be so mature in the way they’re competing and fighting.”
And they’re maturing and growing all the time.
That’s due, in large part, to two things, the first being experience.
At the SEC Championships, for instance, OU didn’t just face the next three best teams in the conference. Those teams — Florida, LSU and Alabama — are the next three best teams in the country behind OU.
The Sooners fell short of the title by 0.025 but gained a world of understanding.
“To get that practice and to know exactly what you have to do to make it happen, what a gift,” Kindler said. “What a gift for us to have to fight through it and for them to respond the way they did.”
Torrez said, “It’s amazing for our underclassmen. They’ve never been in an environment like this with such amazing teams. … I’m really glad we were able to come out here, have a lot of energy, do our gymnastics and gain the experience for them.”
More: Why OU gymnast Mackenzie Estep draws inspiration from her weightlifting sister
Torrez has been mindful to talk about such things with the underclassmen. That leadership, Kindler says, has been the other major factor in the evolution of this young bunch. Even though Torrez’s season hasn’t gone the way she hoped, she hasn’t pulled away from the team.
She leaned in more instead.
“She really had to do an assessment of what her contributions are going to be,” Kindler said, “and I think she’s really dug into the leadership aspect.
“I think her investment in the team is her No. 1 growth area.”
That isn’t to say Torrez isn’t contributing on the mat or in meets. Quite the opposite. Kindler sees her taking coaching and grabbing feedback more than ever before.
Torrez wants to squeeze out every tenth, to score as high as humanly possible on the events she does.
That’s why she broke into a wide smile as soon as she hit her dismount on beam Saturday night. She didn’t need the judges to tell her that the routine was a 10; she sensed it.
“I can’t control the judges or anything like that,” she said, “so just really going out there and just being like, ‘I nailed it,’ it was a great feeling.”
To be rewarded for it, though?
“That was definitely a highlight of the night,” Kindler said. “I’ve been waiting for it all year. Finally, it was today. … To do it in the postseason in a meet as important as this, as impactful as this, that was huge for our team.”
One more way Torrez is trying to be an inspiration for these Sooners.
“The way she responds and the way they respond to her,” Kindler said, “she’s a huge part of what we’re doing right now.
“She brings that joy to our whole team.”
With her leaps and smiles, her attitude and scores.
Just because she isn’t doing every event doesn’t mean she isn’t having an impact everywhere.
Jenni Carlson: Jenni can be reached at [email protected]. Like her at facebook.com/JenniCarlsonOK, follow her at @jennicarlsonok.bsky.social and twitter.com/jennicarlson_ok, and support her work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU women's gymnastics' Faith Torrez is key to Sooners' NCAA title hope
Continue reading...
She did not know that her routine would be scored a perfect 10, that it would win the balance beam title at the SEC Championships. Those results, it turns out, were not the source of the Sooner senior’s joy.
“I’m just happy to be here,” she said Saturday night at the SEC Championships, flashing that smile again. “I’m happy to be here doing it for my team. This team … I just want to go out there and do my best gymnastics for them.
“That’s kind of what I tell myself before I go on every event — do my best gymnastics for my team.”
More: OU women's gymnastics loses SEC title by slimmest margin, eyes NCAA repeat
Torrez, who finished third in the all-around at NCAAs a year ago, has done a lot of spectacular gymnastics for OU during her career. But as the Sooners enter the meat of the postseason, it is becoming increasingly clear that if they are to repeat as national champions, her impact will go beyond the scores she posts.
OU coach K.J. Kindler announced last week that she doesn’t expect Torrez to compete in the floor exercise for the remainder of the season due to ongoing medical issues.
At the SEC Championships, Torrez was used only on bars and beam, and while she was magnificent on both, scoring that 10 on beam and coming up just short of perfection on bars with a 9.950, this isn’t the senior season of her dreams.
“If she could, she would do all four events,” Kindler said. “She just can’t. So she’s finding joy in what she can do, and she’s definitely digging in with our team and in her leadership.”
Even though the top-ranked Sooners won an undefeated SEC regular-season title, then finished second to Florida by the smallest margin possible at the SEC Championships, this is a squad relying heavily on underclassmen. On Saturday at BOK Center, freshmen and sophomores filled at least four of the six spots in every event, and on floor, they accounted for five of six.
All told, the underclassmen filled 17 of 24 spots.
Freshmen had seven of them, nearly a third.
“This is such a young team. I keep telling people that,” Kindler said. “These freshmen, these sophomores, really young to be so mature in the way they’re competing and fighting.”
And they’re maturing and growing all the time.
That’s due, in large part, to two things, the first being experience.
At the SEC Championships, for instance, OU didn’t just face the next three best teams in the conference. Those teams — Florida, LSU and Alabama — are the next three best teams in the country behind OU.
The Sooners fell short of the title by 0.025 but gained a world of understanding.
“To get that practice and to know exactly what you have to do to make it happen, what a gift,” Kindler said. “What a gift for us to have to fight through it and for them to respond the way they did.”
Torrez said, “It’s amazing for our underclassmen. They’ve never been in an environment like this with such amazing teams. … I’m really glad we were able to come out here, have a lot of energy, do our gymnastics and gain the experience for them.”
More: Why OU gymnast Mackenzie Estep draws inspiration from her weightlifting sister
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Torrez has been mindful to talk about such things with the underclassmen. That leadership, Kindler says, has been the other major factor in the evolution of this young bunch. Even though Torrez’s season hasn’t gone the way she hoped, she hasn’t pulled away from the team.
She leaned in more instead.
“She really had to do an assessment of what her contributions are going to be,” Kindler said, “and I think she’s really dug into the leadership aspect.
“I think her investment in the team is her No. 1 growth area.”
That isn’t to say Torrez isn’t contributing on the mat or in meets. Quite the opposite. Kindler sees her taking coaching and grabbing feedback more than ever before.
Torrez wants to squeeze out every tenth, to score as high as humanly possible on the events she does.
That’s why she broke into a wide smile as soon as she hit her dismount on beam Saturday night. She didn’t need the judges to tell her that the routine was a 10; she sensed it.
“I can’t control the judges or anything like that,” she said, “so just really going out there and just being like, ‘I nailed it,’ it was a great feeling.”
To be rewarded for it, though?
“That was definitely a highlight of the night,” Kindler said. “I’ve been waiting for it all year. Finally, it was today. … To do it in the postseason in a meet as important as this, as impactful as this, that was huge for our team.”
One more way Torrez is trying to be an inspiration for these Sooners.
“The way she responds and the way they respond to her,” Kindler said, “she’s a huge part of what we’re doing right now.
“She brings that joy to our whole team.”
With her leaps and smiles, her attitude and scores.
Just because she isn’t doing every event doesn’t mean she isn’t having an impact everywhere.
Jenni Carlson: Jenni can be reached at [email protected]. Like her at facebook.com/JenniCarlsonOK, follow her at @jennicarlsonok.bsky.social and twitter.com/jennicarlson_ok, and support her work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU women's gymnastics' Faith Torrez is key to Sooners' NCAA title hope
Continue reading...
