Oklahoma, Florida, LSU, Minnesota advance to 2026 NCAA gymnastics national championship

Oklahoma and Minnesota punched their tickets to Saturday's national championship after strong showings Thursday in the semifinals. The Sooners put up a commanding 198.3000 total to comfortably take the top spot in Session II after notching the highest overall score of the day, while No. 13 Minnesota made history as the lowest seed to make the national championship.

The Sooners posted dominating performances from the start, with Keira Wells' 9.9750 on vault as the leadoff to secure the NCAA individual title. They finished strongly on the floor, tallying a 49.5375 led by Faith Torrez’s 9.9500 that capped the Sooners’ advancement to Saturday and secured the all-around crown for Torrez. 

WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE!!!

Faith earns a 9.9500 to anchor floor ‼️

— Oklahoma Women's Gym (@OU_WGymnastics)

Minnesota earned its first-ever appearance in the national finals after edging UCLA (197.2750 total) with a clutch 49.3875 bar performance on the last rotation. Lacie Saltzmann powered a 9.9625 for a career-best that lifted the Golden Gophers into history with a 197.4625 total. After coming in as a No. 13 seed, Minnesota is now the lowest seed to reach the national final since the NCAA began seeding in 2014. 

SKI-U-MAH???

More like STICK-U-MAH!!!!

Lacie Saltzmann gets it done with a 9.9625 on UB x 🎥 ESPN2 /

— NCAA Women’s Gymnastics (@NCAA_Gymnastics)

Oklahoma and Minnesota will join Florida and LSU to joust for the national title crown on Saturday. 

Oklahoma’s strong showing on bars helped extend the Sooners’ lead midway through the second session of the national semifinal. 

OU’s 49.2875 (99.2250 total) was highlighted by Caitlin Smith’s career-high 9.9125 on just her fourth bar performance of the season and Faith Torrez’s 9.9500 anchor. 

sorry, got a bit of chalk in our eyes 🥹

Caitlin earns a career-high 9.9125 in her NCAA postseason debut!

🎥 | ESPN2

— Oklahoma Women's Gym (@OU_WGymnastics)

Minnesota held on to the second spot with a 49.4375 (98.8250 total), powered by Jordyn Lyden’s 9.9375 anchor while UCLA’s Jordan Chiles put up a 9.9500 on beam to elevate the Bruins (98.7500 total) past Arkansas (98.670 total).

THAT GIRL with a 9.9500 on beam 😮‍💨 x 🎥 ESPN2 /

— NCAA Women’s Gymnastics (@NCAA_Gymnastics)

Oklahoma announced prior to Session II that Addison Fatta will be out of every event except beam in the national semifinals. 

Fatta has been a heavy-hitter for the Sooners, ranking fourth nationally as an all-around qualifier. Due to an injury, Fatta will be out of all-around contention but teammate Faith Torrez will step into her spot. 

Torrez has sat out on floor all season and has vaulted only five times. But in the first rotation, she put up a 9.9375 to keep the Sooners' momentum rolling on vault. 

Here’s who is leading the individual standings after Session I. 

Kailin Chio led the field in two events, propelling LSU to advance to the national championship final and edge out Georgia in the final rotation while securing the top all-around spot.

She is tied with teammate Kailia Lincoln for the top spot on vault, both putting up a 9.9625. 

"Are you kidding me?!" 🗣️

Another stuck vault for Kailin Chio 💥

— ESPN (@espn)

In the last rotation, Chio delivered another 9.9625 to come clinch the Tigers' spot on Saturday. 

With Session II just under two hours away, the highest scores across both semifinals will win the individual title. 

Florida remains out front through three rotations, but Georgia's impressive floor performance moved it up to second.

The Gators had a 49.2250 on the vault, led once again by eMjae Frazier (9.8750), holding the lead with a 148.1250 total. On the floor, however, Georgia's lowest qualifying score was a 9.8625.

The Bulldogs had four 9.9000s or better, led by Nyla Aquino and CaMarah Williams, who each notched a 9.9375. The 49.5375 on the floor brings Georgia's total to 147.9375.

HOW 'BOUT THESE CLOSERS⁉️🐶

Back-to-back from Nyla and CaMarah!

🔢 9.9375 x2
🎥 ESPN2
📊 |

— Georgia Gymnastics (@UGAGymnastics)

LSU scored a 49.2500 on the beam, led by a 9.9500 from Konnor McClain. The Tigers (147.9125 total) are just 0.025 behind the Bulldogs for the second qualifying spot for the championship final on Saturday. 

Steady force. It's a 9.9500 for Kon!

📺 ESPN2 |

— LSU Gymnastics (@LSUgym)

Stanford was led by a 9.9000 from Levi Jung-Ruivivar on the bars. The Cardinal had a 49.2875 on the bars.

The first rotation started off with a bang, featuring Florida, the top team in the nation on the beam, and LSU, the second best team on the vault. Though six compete for each team, only the top five scores count.

LSU holds the lead with a 49.4750 on the vault, powered by a pair of 9.9625 performances from Kaliya Lincoln and Kailin Chio. Florida notched a 49.4625 on the beam, led by a 9.9250 from eMjae Frazier and a 9.9125 from Skye Blakely. Autumn Reingold led Georgia on the uneven bars with a 9.9250 while Anna Roberts led Stanford on the floor with a 9.8875.

Semifinal Thursday is here.

Eight teams plus individual qualifiers will compete in Forth Worth, Texas across two sessions today at 4:30 and 9 p.m. ET. The top two teams in each session will advance to the national championship on Saturday — "Four on the Floor."

But there will be champions crowned today, as we'll crown national champions in the four events as well as the individual all-around winner.

We'll be covering all the action throughout the day, including Perfect 10s, winning moments and more.

John Roethlisberger, Aly Raisman, Sam Peszek and Taylor Davis will call the action on ESPN2. There are also team-centered streaming options below to follow along your favorite squad. Complete schedule info can be found here: