TRAUTMAN, NICHOLS SHARE STRONG BOND
Oklahoma freshman Olivia Trautman is savoring the opportunity to follow in Maggie Nichols' footsteps
NORMAN — Getting her feet wet in gymnastics as a young girl, Olivia Trautman would stand off to the side and marvel watching the older gymnast work.
The girl was only about three years older than her, but to Trautman, it seemed like a lifetime away watching her on the mats at Twin City Twisters in Champlin, Minnesota.
“I would watch her in the gym and just be in awe of the stuff that she could do,” Trautman said this week.
The older girl Trautman admired then eventually became her best friend. And Trautman eventually followed in Maggie Nichols' footsteps by pursuing gymnastics' elite
path before competing at Oklahoma.
Trautman, Nichols and the Sooners host the Big 12 Championships beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday at Lloyd Noble Center. No. 1 Oklahoma will compete against No. 5 Denver, Iowa State and West Virginia in the meet.
It took a few years before Trautman went from being in awe of Nichols to thinking she legitimately had a chance to follow in Nichols' footsteps. But Nichols said she could see the potential quickly once Trautman joined the gym.
“Ever since she was little, she always had the power in her legs on vault and floor for sure,” Nichols said. “You could always tell she had that talent and that spark in her.”
After Nichols came to Oklahoma in 2016, Trautman started considering following her to Norman from the Minneapolis area.
“Becoming teammates with her again is amazing,” Trautman said.
Nichols is enjoying having her longtime friend around as well.
“For me, it was kind of an honor,” Nichols said. “She was honestly one of my best friends, even though she was younger than me. I knew she looked up to me so it's really cool and motivating as well.”
As a freshman this season, Trautman has been a force for the Sooners.
After last week's win over Alabama in which she posted three scores of at least 9.850 — including a 9.950 on the floor exercise — Trautman was named the Big 12's Newcomer of the Week for the seventh time this season.
“I knew she was going to do great, but seeing it all unfold this year has been amazing,” Nichols said. “I'm excited to see how she does at Big 12s, regionals and nationals. I'm sure she's going to do something special.”
At the Perfect 10 Challenge in February in Oklahoma City, Trautman became the fourth freshman in program history to earn a perfect 10 when she earned the score in the floor exercise.
“Just her mental strength ... she goes out and competes,” Nichols said. “She's very confident when she goes out there, so she's not too nervous or it doesn't look like she is at least.
“She has her best routines under immense pressure so that's amazing to watch.”