By Clay Horning
Oklahoma gymnastics being ranked No. 1 is nothing new. Mark Williams' men's program has won five of the last eight national championships.
Still, the program run by K.J. Kindler made history Monday when the new rankings came out.
Called the Troester rankings, the OU women, coming off last Friday's triangular victory over Nebraska and Texas Woman's University, ascended to the top spot Monday.
Alabama, Arkansas, Utah and UCLA round out the top five.
The program has been on the rise ever since Kindler took over four seasons ago, coming over from Big 12 rival Iowa State.
She has guided the Sooners to the NCAA Championships every season since her arrival, though advancing to the second day of the national meet hasn't come easy.
Now, it appears, the program is a national championship contender.
Her program is the eighth bearing the Sooner name to be ranked No. 1 in the nation, the others being football, men's basketball, men's golf, men's gymnastics, softball and wrestling.
The Sooners will take their lofty perch atop the sport into Friday's dual with Iowa State. It will be "Beauty and the Beast" night at Lloyd Noble Center, as the OU wrestling team takes on Tennessee-Chattanooga simultaneously on the arena floor.
