A Lineup Change Changes Everything

Torrez’s teammate, Addision Fatta, was long considered the Sooners’ best all-around threat in Fort Worth. However, after Fatta suffered a hand injury during training, Torrez rose to the occasion.

When her name appeared on all four events in lineups early Thursday afternoon, she quietly entered the all-around race. Even so, No. 1 Chio and No. 2 Chiles entered Thursday’s semifinals as the favorites.

Heading into Fort Worth, Faith Torrez wasn’t even in conversation for the all-around title. Once a reliable all-around threat for the Sooners as an underclassman, Torrez suffered an ankle injury early in the season, leading her coaches to stagnate the senior’s return to vault and floor – the sport’s physically taxing "power events."

Torrez instead opted to compete bars and beam on every event throughout the 12-week regular season, ranking third in the nation on the latter. After posting her second perfect ten of the year on beam at the SEC Championships, Torrez approached her coach with a proposition: a return to the all-around.

The Sooners had dropped the SEC title to Florida by a razor-thin margin, and the senior was hungry to give her program all she had in her final season.

“[Faith] defrosted herself,” K.J. Kindler remarked, reflecting that it was a “joint decision” to help Torrez return to the floor. The process started with “baby steps," Kindler says: simple layout timers into pits and tumbling on the softer track, limiting harsh pounding on the competition rod floor.

The SEC Championships concluded on Saturday, March 21. The Sooners hoped to compete in the national semifinals only 26 days later. The order was tall, but Kindler knew that Torrez possessed the necessary qualities to pull it off.

“She is so talented,” Kindler gushed, comparing the senior to Sooner greats Maggie Nichols and Olivia Trautman. Nichols and Trautman were also renowned for rebounding from injuries to clinch national titles.

Like Trautman and Nichols, Torrez isn’t just talented – she possesses one of the most crucial gymnastics qualities: superb "air awareness.” This quality enabled Torrez to move from cushioned surfaces to the rod floor in record time.

Her unique talent and ability reached new heights on Thursday, with Torrez posting no score below a 9.9375 across the four events.

Heading into her floor routine, Torrez needed just north of a 9.8 to win the all-around title – a light lift for an athlete accustomed to 9.95s. Still, it was her first floor routine of the season.

Neither fact mattered.

Faith didn’t know what she needed when she saluted the judges on Thursday, and she wasn’t worried about her routine. “I was just excited to do floor,” she giggled.

Now, the newly minted NCAA All-Around Champion is “living the dream."

Torrez, Oklahoma Seek 8th National Title

On Saturday, Torrez takes to the floor for the final time in her career, looking to lead the Sooners to their eighth national title in twelve years.

The No. 1 Sooners will face tough and familiar SEC competition in No. 2 LSU and No. 3 Florida, but vow to keep their eyes peeled for another upset run from gymnastics’ ‘Cinderella team,’ the No. 13 Minnesota Golden Gophers.