Day 1: Sights and Sounds from 2023 NCAA women’s gymnastics championship

Guess which Olympic special guest attended the first day of NCAA women’s gymnastics championships.

The day started with Olympic champion and USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame gymnast Carly Patterson leading the Readers Become Leaders ceremony with local ISDs.

Then the gymnasts started practicing with two practice sessions being held throughout the day. Both teams and individuals practiced together and rotated through the four events.

The music was pumping and routines were being stuck left and right. Chalk was in the air and the sound of supportive teammates and coaches cheering on their teammates echoed inside Dickies Arena. A sense of camaraderie was also present not only within teams, but especially the teams supporting the individual competitors. It can be tough to be the only one from your school at an event like this, but everyone seemed at ease.

The women’s gymnastics championships consist of eight teams, four all-around competitors, and 16 event specialists who were not members of a qualifying team.

The eight teams competing are the California Golden Bears, Oklahoma Sooners, Utah Utes, UCLA Bruins, Denver Pioneers, Kentucky Wildcats, Florida Gators, and LSU Tigers. The Golden Bears finished the regular season at the top of the rankings amongst all schools with a 198.075 regional final score.

LSU looked especially crisp in warmups on vault and bars, while Florida was showcasing their artistry on the floor.

The schedule for the semifinals breaks the individual and team competitors up into two sessions:

Semifinal I – 3 p.m. ET on Thursday, April 13 on ESPN2

Teams: No. 2 Florida, No. 7 California, No. 6 LSU, and No. 14 Denver

Individuals: Courtney Blackson (Boise State), Elexis Edwards (Ohio State), Delanie Harkness (Michigan State), Payton Harris (Ohio State), Emily Lopez (Boise State), Ava Piedrahita (Penn State), Cassidy Rushlow (Penn State), Alisa Sheremeta (Missouri), Gabrielle Stephen (Michigan State), Chloe Widner (Stanford)

Semifinal II – 9 p.m. ET on Thursday, April 13

Teams: No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 5 Utah, No. 4 UCLA, and No. 9 Kentucky

Individuals: Luisa Blanco (Alabama), Sierra Brooks (Michigan), Jade Carey (Oregon State), Norah Flatley (Arkansas), Derrian Gobourne (Auburn), Abby Heiskell (Michigan), Naomi Morrison (Michigan), Hannah Scharf (Arizona State), Lauren Williams (Arkansas), Natalie Wojcik (Michigan)

The top two teams from each semifinal will advance to the final at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 15, on ABC.