FORT WORTH, Texas -- The UCLA gymnastics team fell short in its bid for a national championship.
Minnesota took advantage of the Bruins' struggles on Thursday night and clinched the program's first appearance in the NCAA finals, joining top three seeds Oklahoma, LSU and Florida to battle for the national title.
Minnesota, the No. 13 seed, became the lowest seed to reach the final since the NCAA began seeding in 2014.
The Golden Gophers (197.4625) edged UCLA (197.2750) with a clutch 49.3875 performance on the uneven bars in the last rotation. Lacie Saltzmann posted a career-best 9.9625 that lifted Minnesota into history, while UCLA scored a 48.9750 on the vault, the worst vault score in their semifinal and the second-worst of any of the eight teams competing Thursday.
Defending champion Oklahoma led throughout the second semifinal and notched the highest-overall score of the day at 198.3000. The Sooners will go for their fourth NCAA championship in five years on Saturday.
Oklahoma took control in the first rotation, recording the second-highest vault score in NCAA championship history at 49.7500. Kiera Wells put up a career-high 9.9750 to take the top spot, and Hannah Scheible and Lily Pederson both added a 9.9500 to give the Sooners the highest vault rotation in the NCAA this season.
The Sooners also had a strong showing on the uneven bars, highlighted by Caitlin Smith's career-high 9.9125 on just her fourth bar performance of the season.
Oklahoma senior Faith Torrez won the all-around title after stepping in for Addison Fatta, who missed every event except the balance beam due to a hamstring strain. Prior to Thursday, Torrez had sat out the floor exercise all season while only competing in vault five times.
UCLA's Jordan Chiles won the floor (9.9750) for UCLA, while Wells won the individual title in vault (9.9750), Florida's Riley McCusker took the uneven bars (9.9875) and Minnesota's Brooklyn Rowray finished first on the beam (9.9625).
Chiles, the 2023 and '25 NCAA bars champion, had an uncharacteristic fall on the bars during the Bruins' first rotation. The 9.3625 took her out of all-around contention in her final collegiate meet.
The Bruins were in fourth place after their 49.2625 showing on the bars, but they bounced back with a 49.4875 on the balance beam to move into third after two rotations. Chiles scored a team-best 9.9500 on the beam.
UCLA moved ahead of Minnesota into second place (148.3-148.075) after the third rotation with a 49.5500 team score on the floor. Ashlee Sullivan posted a 9.9375 and three-time Olympic medalist Chiles delivered her meet-best 9.975 before things went south for the Bruins on the vault.
Third-seeded Florida won the first semifinal for an opportunity to clinch the program's fifth national championship.
eMjae Frazier posted Florida’s highest score on the floor as her team moved past LSU into first place at the midway point. Frazier also led the way for the Gators in beam and vault.
The Gators finished at 197.7875 after closing the meet with four consecutive 9.9000s or better on bars, highlighted by McCusker’s 9.9875.
LSU reached the championship for the 11th time in program history - and the third under head coach Jay Clark.
The Tigers held the top spot in four of the five events. Kailin Chio had two of them to help LSU edge Georgia in the final rotation. She tied teammate Kailia Lincoln for the top spot on vault, both putting up a 9.9625.
The Bulldogs were making their 36th appearance in the national championship and the first since 2019.