Highlights from the 2025 NCAA Gymnastics -semi -final

Fort Worth, Texas – Eight teams took part in the NCAA Gymnastics semi -final in the Dickies Arena on Thursday to advance the final on Saturday.

After a day on which an amazing surprise about the defense of Champion LSU contained, four teams remain. And now the stage is for a convincing conclusion to the 2025 season with favorite favorites in Oklahoma, historical power plants Utah and Ucla and a first finalist in Missouri.

The LSU, the 2024 champion, which ended the regular season in 1st place and won the second title last month, was stunned in the narrow second session of the day, which was defeated by the second-placed UCLA of 0.2125 points. The team seemed to be destroyed when the last points on the screens of the arena flashed and sealed his fate. The tigers were 0.2375 points behind Utah, the session winner.

“Today’s competition was absolutely everything you can hope for in a national championship,” said UCLA coach Janelle McDonald. “It was so neck and neck and such a struggle for every single event and every single routine. It was an incredible meeting to be part of it.”

Florida, who ended the regular season in 3rd place, was also sent home early when the Gators took third place during the first session.

Jordan Bowers from Oklahoma won the all-round title with a 39,7125 and defeated Utahs Grace McCallum, the Jade Carey, the Jade Carey in the state of Oregon.

Who was still enthusiastic about Thursday? And who still took an event title home? In the event that you missed one of the actions, we assured you.

Return of the Sooners

The Oklahoma Sooners knew that all eyes were on the fact that they entered the first semi -finals on Thursday, for good reason. During the semi -finals of the last year, the team arrived as a favorite to win his third NCAA team title in a row.

After the team had recorded three significant landing errors during its first rotation in the Vault, the dreams of the Sooners were overthrown and they were recently given memory of one of the most shocking disorders. Since then, coach KJ Kindler has said that she had 364 long days to think about what had happened and was repeatedly bombarded by the recordings of the competition.

Coincidentally and perhaps poetically, the Sooners had to end the meeting on Thursday on Vault, but Torrez and Bowers-Die two all-showers of the team, both of whom had to fight with the event last year, that they did not make them fascinate them.

And this trust worked. Nobody fell during the event, and Oklahoma recorded a best session 49,2750 on the vault to win the first semi -finals with a 197,5500. Bowers, a senior and the anchor at the event, had a team high of 9,8875, the second highest number of points in the first semi -finals.

Bowers and Torrez also achieved 9.95 on their floor routines – good enough for second place – to raise the team and continue the search for a seventh national championship.

Jordan. Bowers. 9.95. pic.twitter.com/gagryiweex

– Oklahoma Women’s Gym (@ou_wgymnastics) April 17, 2025

Kindler was able to appeal to reporters last year after the meeting after the meeting last year in their opening comments.

“I never want to see Oklahoma’s television recordings fall back on Vault,” said Kindler. “This dragon is killed and we are over.”

Kindler added that she was proud of the team, but admitted that it was far from his best performance and knew that the Sooners could do it better.

“We were definitely not our best,” said Kindler. “It felt like we compete a little with a little weight on our shoulders. So we have to compete with more freedom and more faith.”

History for Missouri

When Missouri joined the competition, he had never appeared to the final, and his best result at the NCAA championships was a fifth place. But that has changed behind some outstanding achievements and the meet-clinching efforts by Helen Hu.

Missouri fought through routine through routine in the final rotation with Florida and ended the day on the beam. And everything came to HU, the last gymnast of the Tigers at the event and a beam specialist who returned to the team for a fifth year after the outer seat in the 2024 season.

HU was a quarter of a point when she started her routine and was almost flawless. He earned a 9,9875 to secure second place in the team and hit the first ticket to the final. She also won the NCAA Beam title.

Tell her closer.

Helen Hu has won a 9,9875 on beam for the tiger.#Ncaagym X 🎥 ESPN2 / @MizzoGym pic.twitter.com/6mjdcjtqww

– NCAA Gymnastics (@ncaa_gymnastics) April 17, 2025

The team began to celebrate as soon as HU’s score was shown on the video board – and again when Florida’s end result appeared shortly afterwards. Missouri displaced Florida 197,3000 to 197.2000.

Members of the Missouri team were able to scream and cheered long after the meeting in the hallways in the arena near the changing rooms was over. HU said she didn’t know which score she needed to take part in competitions.

“I just go in, this is my jet routine, whether we need it or we do, I will open and do what I always do,” said Hu. “And so I really had no idea how the situation was. And when we circled and said: ‘Whether we can do it, we can be proud of what we did today.’ And I agreed and maybe the score appeared and was just in complete shock.

Coach Shannon Welker, who joked that he came to his press conference too late because he negotiated his contract, said he was proud of what his team achieved but was not surprised.

“I really had the feeling that this was a special team this year, and we had the opportunity to be the best team in the gymnastics history of the University of Missouri, and that meant that we had to be at least fifth. That was our highest,” said Welker. “Today we obviously surpassed it, but it’s just so nice to see what I thought to actually come into play. … (I’m) just very excited to be there on Saturday.”

Fight for night

How tight was the night session on Thursday? All four teams – Utah, UCLA, LSU and Michigan State – were in the final rotation within 0.1875 points. And Utah, UCLA and LSU were all within .0750. To mention unnecessarily that the crowd seemed to live and breathe with every routine and score.

But it was Utah and Ucla who came out behind the red rocks brave efforts on the bars and the impressive representation of the bruins on Beam. Both teams were happy when the last results were shown and they recognized what it meant. McCallum excluded it with a 9,9625 for Utah and Emma Malabuyo did the same for UCLA with a huge 9.975.

The bruins are in!@EMMAMALABUYO With a 9,9750 the Bruins trip to the championship!

📺: ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/sjohpvntal

– UCLA Gymnastics (@uclagymnasics) April 18, 2025

Utah’s Amelie Morgan said everyone knew how close it was, but neither you nor her teammates can be affected by her performance or trust.

“I think it’s always one thing in gymnastics:” Keep your eyes on your own team and don’t take care of anyone “, but at a certain point you can see that it is pretty close,” said Morgan. “But I think we really emphasized for us and throughout this season that we have no doubt, and I know for myself and pretty much the whole team, there was no doubt that we wouldn’t make it. And although it was so close, we knew that we could do it. We knew that we were so good, and I think that did it.”

Utah, a nine-time NCAA champion, and UCLA, seven-time champion, are now back in familiar territory and will both bring the ultimate hardware back on Saturday. For both, especially in Utah, a long time would take a long time that has not won since 1995. The UCLA recently claimed the title in 2018.

Event Champions

In addition to Bowers, who claimed the all-round title and the Hu Beam victory, three other gymnasts became individual NCAA champions.

Although it was a disappointing night for LSU as a team, Kailin Chio was still able to end her announced new season with the top podium on the vault with a 9.975 for her Yurchko 1.5.

It just looks. 🐯

9,9750 on Vault for Kailin Chio.#Ncaagym X 🎥 ESPN2 / @Lsugym pic.twitter.com/kdxkbexomw

– NCAA Gymnastics (@ncaa_gymnastics) April 18, 2025

The Chiles of the UCLA, already a NCAA master and Olympic gold medalist twice, took the best awards at the uneven bars with an almost perfect 9,975. Chile’s enthusiastic response, after putting on her double layout deposit, showed how much it meant for her.

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Jordan Chile brought tears to tears

Jordan Chiles puts the landing on a bar routine and is emotional while hugging her trainer.

And Brooklyn Moors, teammates from Chiles and an Olympic colleague, grabbed their first national championship with their sensational floor routine, which has received high praise and high scores throughout the season. She earned a 9,9625 for Ucla’s first event of the night. Moors called the individual honor a “cherry at the top”, but said that the real price with her team will go to the final on Saturday.

“We are here to do it for the team,” said Moors. “And I think I say it every time, (but) this team is something special and when we put it together, it’s pretty amazing.”

Everything is fine with the world! Queen B @brooklynmoors Is the NCAA floor -exercise champion! pic.twitter.com/3i70ntljix

– UCLA Gymnastics (@uclagymnasics) April 18, 2025