| NEWS Alabama Gymnastics Takes Second at SEC Championships Saturday Night

[Bama News]

No. 6 Alabama Gymnastics Set for SEC Championships Evening Session, Starts on Floor Exercise - University of Alabama Athletics

The No. 6-ranked Alabama gymnastics team will compete in the second of two sessions at the Southeastern Conference Championships Saturday at 7 p.m. CT at th...

rolltide.com

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The No. 6-ranked Alabama gymnastics team will compete in the second of two sessions at the Southeastern Conference Championships Saturday at 7 p.m. CT at the BJCC's Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Ala.

Tickets may be purchased online at SECSports.com or through the Legacy Arena box office. Both sessions of the championships will air live on SEC Network and will stream on WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app.

In addition to the meet broadcast, which will also be streamed live, the SEC Network will also have a live stream for each apparatus and "the all-around" which will incorporate all four events on one screen. Following the meet there will be a stream for the award ceremonies.

The defending SEC Champions will start the meet on the floor exercise and finish on the balance beam in a session that will also feature No. 2 Florida, No. 5 LSU and Auburn, which is tied with the Crimson Tide for sixth nationally.

The first session will feature No. 9 Kentucky, No. 11 Missouri, No. 17 Arkansas and No. 22 Georgia and will get underway at 2:30 p.m. CT. The team with the highest score between the two sessions will be crowned the 2022 SEC Champions.

The winner of 10 SEC team titles, Alabama finished off its regular season with a pair of 198s, marking the first time in the Tide's rich history that it has scored a pair of 198s during the regular season.For all the latest information on Alabama gymnastics, follow BamaGymnastics on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Follow the Crimson Tide at the SEC Championships (March 19 | 7 pm CT)
Broadcast	Stream
All-Around	Stream
Alabama - Rotation 1	Floor Exercise
Alabama - Rotation 2	Vault
Alabama - Rotation 3	Uneven Bars
Alabama - Rotation 4	Balance Beam
After Party	Award Ceremonies

 

[Bama News]

Last season, Alabama gymnastics ended a six-year drought when the Crimson Tide won the SEC championship, the 10th conference title in program history.

This season, Alabama has a chance to do it again.

With a win Saturday at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama would repeat as SEC champions for the second time in program history, and would join Georgia, Florida, and LSU as the only SEC teams to go back-to-back twice.

As the fourth seed, Alabama will be in the second session with Florida, LSU, and Auburn. The session will be shown on SEC Network at 7 p.m. CT.

Here’s what Alabama has to do to repeat:

Continue positive momentum amid intensity

Alabama closed the regular season with two of the greatest performances in program history, scoring 198.075 against Arkansas and a 198 in the Elevate The Stage meet, the first two 198 scores in the Dana Duckworth era. The Crimson Tide won’t need to score a third 198, but will need to avoid a poor performance.

“At the beginning of the year, the seniors came up with the theme TKO. Total knockout. It’s like a battle, like a fight,” Duckworth said. “What we focused on is that they do their best when they’re focused. We have to be able to walk in and expect an intense competition.”

Don’t focus on the past

Alabama may come in as defending champion, but once the meet starts that ceases to matter.

The Crimson Tide can’t afford to believe anything is owed to it as reigning SEC champion.

“There’s a quote from Theodore Roosevelt: ‘Yesterday’s history, tomorrow’s a mystery, we need to focus on the gift, which is why we call it the present.’ That’s what I told them,” Duckworth said. “You focus on today. You continue to grind it out.”

Get as much out of Makarri Doggette as possible

Doggette made her return from injury against Missouri, but since then she’s been limited to just uneven parallel bars. While she’s performed admirably, her presence in other rotations would be a major help to Alabama if she is up to it. Duckworth said Doggette will compete on the bars but has not said whether she will compete elsewhere.

“Makarri will be on bars. That’s what we know right now,” said Duckworth. “We continue to be very smart with her injury.”

 

[SoCalPatrick]

The SEC Network has good coverage of the afternoon meet this afternoon.

We won't see empty seats like this tonight.

 

[TerryP]

They came out bouncing like this and in their first event (vault) they came out bouncing ...

 

[UA Press Release]

Alabama Gymnastics Takes Second at SEC Championships Saturday Night with a 197.825 - University of Alabama Athletics

The Alabama gymnastics posted its 31st top-two Southeastern Conference Championship finish Saturday night at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Ala., with a score of 197.825.

rolltide.com

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Alabama gymnastics team posted its 31st top-two Southeastern Conference Championship finish Saturday night at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Ala., with a score of 197.825.

The Crimson Tide, ranked sixth nationally coming into the meet, finished just behind No. 2 Florida (198.200), and ahead of No. 6 Auburn (197.225), No. 11 Missouri (196.875), No. 5 LSU (196.725), No. 17 Arkansas (196.450), No. 9 Kentucky (196.350) and No. 22 Georgia (195.800).

With its second-place finish, Alabama remains the only school in SEC history to never finish outside the top four at the conference championship meet.

Starting out on the floor exercise, Alabama tallied a 49.425 behind a 9.925 from Lexi Graber and a 9.900 from Shallon Olsen. It was Graber's 10th 9.9-or-better on the floor in a row and her 25th 9.9-or-better in her last 26 floor routines. The Tide then rolled to vault, where 9.900s from Graber and Lilly Hudson pushed the Tide to a 49.350.

Alabama demonstrated fierce grace on in its third rotation, the uneven bars, tying its school record of 49.675. Makarri Doggette, Shania Adams and Luisa Blanco all scored 9.950s, while Cameron Machado posted a 9.925 and Lilly Hudson went 9.900.

The Tide closed on the balance beam, scoring a 49.375, with Ella Burgess and Graber both scoring 9.900s and Shallon Olsen posting a 9.875. It marked the fifth meet in a row that Burgess has led off the Tide's beam rotation with a 9.900.

Alabama Head Coach Dana Duckworth Said​

"Looking back on our performance, there was so much fight out there tonight. I know you keep hearing that word from everybody, but we have really focused on the next second being more important. In warmups, we lost an athlete to an Achilles' injury. We had to rebound the very minute we started warmups. That was one of those things where you could see the resilience and tenacity of this group of women. There is so much to be proud of. That bar rotation was on fire. I feel on floor and vault we got through it, and then on bars and beam we went out and dominated. Those are great lessons to learn as we move forward. The love these gymnasts have for each other is where that deep desire and passion comes from. They continue to fight and so I'm proud of them."

Up Next​

• Following the SEC Championships, Alabama will learn where it will travel for the NCAA Regional Championships on Tuesday, March 22 during the NCAA Selection Show