💬 Alabama Gymnastics Finishes Third at 2017 SEC Gymnastics Championships

[UA Press Release]

LIVE SCORING

Session Time (ET) TV
Session I 2 pm ESPNU: WATCH LIVE
Session II 6 pm SEC Network: WATCH LIVE

 

[UA Press Release]

No. 3 Seeded Alabama Gymnastics Set for SEC Championships Following Practice Day

With its final practice in the books following a 90-minute session on the podium Friday afternoon, the No. 3 seeded Alabama gymnastics team is set for Saturday's Southeastern Conference Championships in Veterans Memoria Arena in Jacksonville, Fla.

"We had a good practice day, making a lot of little adjustments," UA head coach Dana Duckworth said. "We weren't perfect, but that's not what we're looking for today. Our ladies were present, in the moment and ready for tomorrow."

This week's national rankings determine the seeding for Saturday's championships. No. 2 LSU (1), No. 4 Florida (2), No. 6 Alabama (3) and No. 8 Georgia (4) are the top four seeds and will compete in the second session that begins at 6 p.m. ET.

The SEC's first session is comprised of No. 12 Kentucky (5), No. 14 Missouri (6), No. 21 Auburn (7) and No. 26 Arkansas (8) and will start 2 p.m. ET.

Alabama will start the 2017 SEC Championships on the balance beam before advancing to the floor exercise and vault before finishing on the uneven bars.

"Keely McNeer will be back in the lineup for the first time since her car accident before the Georgia meet and that will be a boost to our lineup," Duckworth said.

Alabama has been seeded third at the SEC Championships the last three years and have come away with SEC titles in 2014 and 2015 and a runner-up finish in 2016.

NOTES:

• Both sessions of the 2017 SEC Championships will be broadcast live, with the early session broadcast on ESPNU and the late session on the SEC Network.
• In addition to broadcasting the second session of the SEC Championships live on the SEC Network starting at 6 p.m. ET, all four teams will have a live feed on SEC Network + dedicated to them via WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app. There will also be a quad -box feed that shows the action on all four apparatus at one time.
• Immediately following the meet, the SEC Network + will also provide coverage of the trophy ceremony.
• Olympic medalists and ESPN gymnastic analysts Bart Conner and Kathy Johnson Clarke are calling the Championship, with reporting from Laura Rutledge.
• Earlier on Friday, Crimson Tide senior Aja Sims was named to the SEC Community Service Team.
• This year marks the second time that the SEC championships have been held in Jacksonville, with the first coming in 2010, when Alabama finished second.
• Overall, Alabama has won nine SEC titles since 1988, including four of the last eight.
• The Crimson Tide has finished either first or second at the SEC championships 29 times since 1982.
• After back-to-back titles in 2014 and 2015, Alabama finished second to Florida in 2016 by .025 in Fayetteville, Ark.
• Alabama won three individual SEC titles in 2016. Mackenzie Brannan won the vault while Katie Bailey and Kiana Winston shared the uneven bars title.

No. 3 Seeded Alabama Gymnastics Set for SEC Championships Following Practice Day

 

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[UA Press Release]

Alabama Gymnastics Finishes Third at 2017 SEC Gymnastics Championships with a Score of 197.400


JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The No. 6 ranked Alabama gymnastics team scored a 197.400 to take third place at the 2017 Southeastern Conference Championships. It marked the Crimson Tide 19th consecutive top-three finish at the SEC championships.

"Fight, resilience and tenacity and the connection and love that our ladies have for one another were the key to us being able to finish in the top three at this meet for the 19th consecutive year,"

LSU won their first SEC title since 1981 with a score of 198.075 while Florida was second with a 197.825. Georgia was fourth with a 196.700. Kentucky (196.625), Auburn (196.550), Missouri (195.825) and Arkansas (194.900) rounded out the competition.

"There is no doubt that the most significant thing we did tonight is we never gave up," UA head coach Dana Duckworth said. "We had a mistake on all four events, but the ladies just continued to battle."

After starting the meet with a fall on the balance beam, Alabama rebounded to post a 49.400 beam tally behind a 9.95 from junior Kiana Winston. Freshman Wynter Childers added a 9.900, just off her career-best score, while junior Nickie Guerrero anchored the beam lineup with a 9.9, her seventh consecutive 9.9-or-better on beam.

"You look at the fact that our first gymnast fell on our first event and we fought back to score a 49.400," Duckworth said. "That just screams resilience."

A 49.250 on the floor exercise followed, paced by a 9.925 from Winston. Sophomore Ari Guerra and senior Amanda Jetter opened the Tide's floor rotation with back-to-back 9.85s.

On the vault, Alabama tallied another 49.400, led by a career-best 9.950 from freshman Maddie Desch. Childers opened the Tide's run of vaults with a career-best 9.9, while sophomore Abby Armbrecht tied her career-best with a 9.875.

"I couldn't be happier with the night Maddie and Wynter had, scoring 9.9s on vault and just being in the mix all night," Duckworth said.

The Tide rounded out the night with a 49.350 on the uneven bars behind a huge 9.95 routine in the anchor spot by senior Katie Bailey. Bailey's mark tied her career-best score on bars.

"Katie didn't have the best night on her first two routines, and I told her to finish strong and she did just that with an amazing uneven bars routines," Duckworth said.

Winston won her second individual SEC title, taking top honors on the balance beam after tying for first on the uneven bars in 2016, while Bailey won her second-consecutive uneven bars title.

"I can't say enough about Kiana, going 9.95 on beam and 9.925 on the floor," Duckworth said. "She just continues to get it done each week."

With the SEC Championships behind them, Alabama will find out its destination for the upcoming NCAA regionals on Monday, March 20 at 3 p.m. CT when the selection show will stream on NCAA.com. There are six regional sites, with the top-two teams advancing to the NCAA championships final site in St. Louis, Mo.

Alabama Gymnastics Finishes Third at 2017 SEC Gymnastics Championships with a Score of 197.400