Sean Landry
For her entire career, University of Alabama senior gymnast Hunter Dennis has been ready to compete.
On a team like the Crimson Tide, you have to be, she said. Someone could get injured in warmups, like now-senior Kayla Williams in last season's opener, or be pulled from the lineup with little notice after a bad runthrough. So for three years, before this season, Dennis prepared for competition. And for three years, her number was never called.
"It was very hard," Dennis said. "I felt I was always ready, but, I don't know. It was hard. But now, finally being able to contribute, it's amazing."
Dennis entered the floor for Alabama for the first time against Arizona in the season-opener this season, scoring a 9.825 on the floor exercise. Since then, she's competed in six meets, including a pair of 9.9s against Boise State and LSU.
Dennis said at times, she got so discouraged she seriously contemplated quitting the team, talking it over with her coaches before deciding against it.
"I did, I did, but I just had to push," she said. "I had a lot of people telling me I just had to push through. And I'm glad I did, because I would have regretted it."
Every gymnast at Alabama feels a certain responsibility to live up to lofty expectations, but for Dennis, that pressure was felt more than most. Dennis came to Alabama two years after her sister, Morgan Dennis, graduated. In her time at Alabama, Morgan won the individual national championship on floor exercise and was named an All-American eight times. When Hunter first got to Alabama, she felt she had to live up to that expectation.
"I did my freshman year, just because it's Alabama gymnastics," Hunter Dennis said. "But I'm my own person, so I wanted to make my own goals and do my own thing. After my first year, Sarah helped me realize, the whole coaching staff helped me realize, I'm my own person."
That's a pressure that Morgan Dennis said she never wanted for her sister. Hunter said she started gymnastics because of her sister, and throughout her career, Morgan has sought to be a source of guidance and support.
"I definitely let her know that when she made her decision to be at Alabama, those pressures were naturally going to come from the fans, just because she was my sister," Morgan Dennis said. "I told her, 'This is your opportunity to set yourself apart. You don't have to be in my shadow. You can come in and accomplish things greater than I did.' I definitely had those conversations with her."
On Jan. 9, Hunter Dennis entered competition in Coleman Coliseum for the first time. Friday night, when the Crimson Tide hosts No. 1 Oklahoma, she, along with Kayla Williams, Kaitlyn Clark and Lora Leigh Frost, will compete at home for the last time. The most important thing she'll take away is the same thing that made her push through those three years.
"I would say just the behind-the-scenes things with all the girls," she said. "Everybody sees the gymnastics competition, but when we're together as a team, it's so, it's amazing the things that we can do together, how much we love each other. There's some teams that the girls just like each other. We love each other. That's one thing that will stick with me forever."
https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1745798
For her entire career, University of Alabama senior gymnast Hunter Dennis has been ready to compete.
On a team like the Crimson Tide, you have to be, she said. Someone could get injured in warmups, like now-senior Kayla Williams in last season's opener, or be pulled from the lineup with little notice after a bad runthrough. So for three years, before this season, Dennis prepared for competition. And for three years, her number was never called.
"It was very hard," Dennis said. "I felt I was always ready, but, I don't know. It was hard. But now, finally being able to contribute, it's amazing."
Dennis entered the floor for Alabama for the first time against Arizona in the season-opener this season, scoring a 9.825 on the floor exercise. Since then, she's competed in six meets, including a pair of 9.9s against Boise State and LSU.
Dennis said at times, she got so discouraged she seriously contemplated quitting the team, talking it over with her coaches before deciding against it.
"I did, I did, but I just had to push," she said. "I had a lot of people telling me I just had to push through. And I'm glad I did, because I would have regretted it."
Every gymnast at Alabama feels a certain responsibility to live up to lofty expectations, but for Dennis, that pressure was felt more than most. Dennis came to Alabama two years after her sister, Morgan Dennis, graduated. In her time at Alabama, Morgan won the individual national championship on floor exercise and was named an All-American eight times. When Hunter first got to Alabama, she felt she had to live up to that expectation.
"I did my freshman year, just because it's Alabama gymnastics," Hunter Dennis said. "But I'm my own person, so I wanted to make my own goals and do my own thing. After my first year, Sarah helped me realize, the whole coaching staff helped me realize, I'm my own person."
That's a pressure that Morgan Dennis said she never wanted for her sister. Hunter said she started gymnastics because of her sister, and throughout her career, Morgan has sought to be a source of guidance and support.
"I definitely let her know that when she made her decision to be at Alabama, those pressures were naturally going to come from the fans, just because she was my sister," Morgan Dennis said. "I told her, 'This is your opportunity to set yourself apart. You don't have to be in my shadow. You can come in and accomplish things greater than I did.' I definitely had those conversations with her."
On Jan. 9, Hunter Dennis entered competition in Coleman Coliseum for the first time. Friday night, when the Crimson Tide hosts No. 1 Oklahoma, she, along with Kayla Williams, Kaitlyn Clark and Lora Leigh Frost, will compete at home for the last time. The most important thing she'll take away is the same thing that made her push through those three years.
"I would say just the behind-the-scenes things with all the girls," she said. "Everybody sees the gymnastics competition, but when we're together as a team, it's so, it's amazing the things that we can do together, how much we love each other. There's some teams that the girls just like each other. We love each other. That's one thing that will stick with me forever."
https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1745798
