Opening in 1943, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Oklahoma! reached unbridled achievement and ran on Broadway for a then-record 2,248 consecutive performances.
On Friday, the University of Oklahoma women's gymnastics team attained similar success by ending Penn State's four-meet win streak with a narrow 195.800-195.450 victory.
With the meet closer than Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze, Jr., Oklahoma senior Patricia Aoki, the final competitor, took to the floor needing to come up big. Scoring a 9.925 on the event, Aoki did just that, helping the No. 15 Sooners improve to 4-6 on the season.
Led by top all-around scorer Katie Rowland, No. 17 Penn State (5-5) was hindered by a less-than-spectacular floor execution, scoring 48.500.
"We basically gave away the meet on the floor," Penn State women's gymnastics coach Steve Shephard said. "If we would have hit on floor we would have beat Oklahoma."
Junior co-captain Kelly Streicher, a solid competitor on the uneven bars, opened for Penn State on the balance beam, scoring a 9.750 and jump-starting a turnaround on the intimidating beam. Scoring a 48.800 as a team, Penn State showed significant improvement on the beam, recovering from a 48.325 showing against Pittsburgh.
"We did a lot better on the beam, and from my point of view, Kelly Streicher was definitely the highlight of the meet due to her confidence," Penn State women's gymnastics assistant coach Jessica Bastardi said.
Scoring a season-high team score, Penn State was pleased with its performance, but would like to reach full capability.
"It is very frustrating for us, because we know that we have the talent to score a 196 or 197," Shephard said.
Sticking all four of her landings, Rowland once again sparkled in competition, scoring a 39.525.
"Katie has definitely been a team leader and a positive role model," Shephard said, "and I am very encouraged by her performance."
Although falling short of victory, Penn State will benefit from the current ranking system, which is based exclusively on total season average. As a result, wins and losses have no effect on the team's national ranking, making Penn State's season-high score of 195.450 a positive outcome of the meet.
With West Virginia on the horizon, Penn State will look to fine-tune and adjust the problems created during the Oklahoma match.
"We are just going to try and figure out what we need to improve on," Rowland said, "and then we will be good to go for West Virginia."
