Congratulations to the Oklahoma women’s softball team who won the national championship on June 20.

Everyone in Oklahoma should strive for excellence and that is especially true for young people and students.

Under head coach Patty Grasso, OU has won three out of the last five national titles. That is impressive.

No. 1 seeded OU showed fortitude as they lost the first game of the double-elimination tournament and had to beat James Madison and Florida State twice to claim the title. In fact, OU lost only four games this season and they beat each of those four teams throughout the year.

OU won the national title in 2000, 2013, 2016, 2017 and now 2021.  In 2021, OU set multiple single-season NCAA records, including team batting average, team slugging percentage, on-base percentage, home runs and runs scored, among others. But perhaps the most impressive aspect of this Sooner team was their enthusiasm for the game. That spilled over and made them a whole lot of fun to watch. They helped pack the stadium in Oklahoma City and the games got good TV ratings.

The Sooners were fun to watch. OU senior pitcher Giselle Juarez, who had a 5-0 record in the tournament, was voted the Most Valuable Player. The All-Tournament team included Sooners Jocelyn Alo, Mackinzie Donihoo, Kinzie Hansen, Nicole  Mendes and Tiare Jennings.

Oklahoma State has a pretty good softball team, too, and they keep pushing OU for conference and national titles.

Football is king in Oklahoma but we all should stand up and applaud when they see excellence in other collegiate sports.