OU Gymnastics: Capps, Nichols Named Finalists For Honda Sport Award

Oklahoma claimed two of the nominees for the 2017 Honda Sport Award for Gymnastics as senior Chayse Capps and freshman Maggie Nichols were named finalists for the honor, announced on Tuesday by the Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA).

Capps and Nichols are joined by LSU's Ashleigh Gnat and Florida's Alex McMurtry as nominees for the prestigious accolade.

The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually by the CWSA for the past 41 years to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports and signifies “the best of the best in collegiate athletics." The winner of the sport award becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2017 Honda Cup which will be presented on a live telecast on CBS Sports Network on Monday, June 26, 2017, in downtown Los Angeles.

The nominees were chosen by a panel of coaches representing the National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches/Women (NACGC/W). The Honda Sport Award winner for Gymnastics will be announced later this week after voting by administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Each NCAA member institution has a vote.

Last weekend, Capps and Nichols helped lead Oklahoma to its second straight and third overall NCAA Championship title. In the Super Six, the Sooners impressed with an NCAA Championships record score of 198.3875 to claim the title.

Capps, a senior from Plano, Texas, enjoyed a decorated career with the Sooners. A part of three NCAA national title teams, Capps was the two-time Big 12 Gymnast of the Year and was named a 2017 AAI Award finalist, given to the top senior gymnast in the nation. After earning All-America status three times this season, she finished her career as an 11-time NCAA All-American. A 10-time All-Big 12 selection, she has won four Big 12 team titles and five individual conference crowns.

Nichols posted high scores on three events at the Super Six and was the 2017 NCAA co-champion on uneven bars. The rookie from Little Canada, Minn., won a league-best five All-Big 12 awards in 2017 to become the fifth gymnast in conference history to earn All-Big 12 honors on all four events and in the all-around. She posted seven 10.0 marks overall on the season, already an OU career record. Additionally, she tallied at least one 10.0 on each event for OU this season to become just the ninth collegiate gymnast to complete a "GymSlam."

The Collegiate Women Sports Awards has honored the nation’s top NCAA women athletes for 41 years, recognizing superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service. Since commencing its sponsorship in 1986, Honda has provided more than $3.5 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women’s athletics programs at the institutions. 

Capps and Nichols will look to join Kelly Garrison as Sooners who have earned the Honda Award. Garrison received the honor in both 1987 and 1988.