💬 No. 7 Gymnastics Beats No. 1 Florida, 197.400-196.800

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The No. 7 ranked Alabama gymnastics team used its best score of the season by more than a point to upset defending NCAA champion and current No. 1 ranked Florida, 197.400-196.800, Friday night in front of an exuberant Coleman Coliseum crowd of 13,778.

"I'm so proud of these ladies," UA head coach Dana Duckworth said. "They worked so hard this week. They worked on mental toughness. We worked on our discipline, our focus, our energy and it showed."

Junior Lauren Beers, who went in the all-around for the first time in her Crimson Tide career, scoring a 39.500, won the uneven bars for the third week in a row with a career-best score of 9.9.

"That's been my goal for three years now," Beers said of her first collegiate all-around. "It was great to finally get up there and do it for the first time. There's always ways to improve but it was a good start."

Senior Kaitlyn Clark used a career-best score of her own to win the vault with a 9.975. Sophomore Katie Bailey won the balance beam with a 9.900, tying her career-best score on the way to 39.450 in the all-around.

Alabama opened the meet with another stellar vault rotation, scoring a season-best 49.500 behind a 9.975 from Clark. Freshman Mackenzie Brannan added a career-best 9.9 to the Crimson Tide's total while Bailey, Beers and senior Kayla Williams rounded out Alabama's vault total with matching 9.875s. Meanwhile, Florida scored a 48.950 on the uneven bars.

On the uneven bars, Beers scored a 9.900 to anchor a team score of 49.225. Sophomores Aja Sims and Amanda Jetterchipped in 9.85s to the Tide's total while fellow sophomore Keely McNeer added a 9.825. In the meantime the Gators scored a 49.500 on the vault, giving Alabama a 98.725-98.450 at the halfway point of the meet.

A week after trouble on the balance beam in the form of three falls sunk the Tide at Arkansas, Alabama posted a season-high of 49.325 on the beam against the Gators. Bailey led the way with a 9.9 while McNeer added a 9.875. The rest of the Tide's lineup -Williams, Beers, Clark and Aja Sims - all scored 9.85s. While the Tide found its balance on the beam, Florida scored a 49.350 on the floor exercise.

"I think after last weekend, more than focusing on skills on beam we focused on our overall energy as a team," Bailey said. "I noticed a big difference on every event, not just beam."

Alabama finished the meet with a 49.350 on the floor exercise led by a 9.9 from Clark and 9.875s from Bailey in the leadoff spot, and Beers in the fifth slot. Florida closed out their meet with a 49.000 on the balance beam.

The Tide travels to Lexington, Ky., to take on the Kentucky Wildcats on Friday, Jan. 30, at 7 p.m. ET. Fans can keep up with the Tide via Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube by following BamaGymnastics.

From Rolltide.com—Continue reading...

 

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Kaitlyn Clark stuck the landing and Dana Duckworth pumped her fist.

After last week's disastrous showing on beam, Clark assured Alabama it wouldn't carry over against No. 1 and defending national champion Florida. The Crimson Tide, coached by Duckworth, didn't have any mishaps on the beam after three falls a week ago.

As a result, Alabama took down the nation's top-ranked team. The No. 7 Tide lead the whole way to take the 197.4-196.8 win. A crowd of 13,778 in Coleman Coliseum witnessed Alabama take down a higher-ranked Florida team at home.

Clark had the fifth fall-free beam that assured Alabama it would not have to count a miscue.

"That was a loooot better than last week," Duckworth said with a smile.

Lauren Beers said there was much less anxiety on the beam this week compared to last Friday at Arkansas. The energy was much better too.

"After last week and more than focusing on skills, we just focused on our overall energy on the team," Katie Bailey said. "I noticed a big difference on every event, not just beam. It definitely helps having 17 people behind you, screaming for you. It's nice to know they're behind you."

Alabama held a 0.250 lead entering the final rotation. Tide gymnasts held up four fingers like the football team does before the fourth quarter. The first Gator on the beam, Kennedy Baker fell immediately.

Alabama finished off the win on the floor, where it tops the national rankings. Its 49.350 was more than enough to finish off the win.

Clark had the performance of the night on the vault. One judge gave her a perfect 10.0, but she settled on a 9.975 after getting a 9.5 from the other judge. Duckworth said Clark's animated reaction was enough to send a jolt through the team.

"It just sets the tone," Duckworth said."It gives you a confidence to move forward and know that if you nail your routines, you have an opportunity for a perfect score. Or close to it."

Alabama heads back on the road to face Kentucky next week. Carrying the energy and emotion to Lexington will be the focus after coming out flat last week in the loss at Arkansas.

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Alabama gymnastics takes down No. 1 Florida

By Sean Landry
Special to The Tuscaloosa News

The University of Alabama gymnastics team's 197.4 to 196.8 win over top-ranked Florida on Friday night in Coleman Coliseum wasn't quite like last season's titanic clashes. In three out of four meets in 2014, the lead shifted in the final rotation, and in two, the last routine. The fourth ended in a tie.

Instead, No. 7 Alabama led No. 1 Florida wire-to-wire, jumping out to an early lead as Kaitlyn Clark's career-best 9.975 on vault paced the Crimson Tide to a 49.5, its highest scoring apparatus of the night and the highest score of the season for Alabama. On uneven bars, Florida started with a 48.95, led by Alex McMurty's 9.825, giving Alabama a .55 lead.

"Awesome," Alabama coach Dana Duckworth said. "So proud of these ladies. They worked so hard this week. They just worked on mental toughness, we worked on our discipline, our focus, our energy. So proud of having over 13,700 screaming fans. It makes a difference, the energy that they bring. Just the way everything turned out tonight. We weren't perfect, but we kept saying 'whatever happens the next second is more important,' and I think we did a great job of displaying that."

Junior Lauren Beers posted a career high on the uneven bars with a 9.9, besting her previous mark of 9.875 and leading Alabama to a 49.225 score, keeping Alabama's lead at 98.725 to 98.45. Beers competed in all-around competition for the first time, finishing second with a 39.5, just behind Florida's Kytra Hunter, who scored a 39.55.

"It was fun," Beers said. "It's been my goal for three years now, since I've been here, so it was great to finally get up there for the first time. Always ways to improve, but happy for the good start."

For the first time this season, Alabama made it through all six balance beam routines with no falls, just one week after three gymnasts fell in Arkansas. Alabama finished with a 49.325 on beam, its highest score of the season.

After Florida finished with a 49.35 on beam, the Crimson Tide's lead dwindled to 148.05 to 147.8, the smallest margin of the night.

"That was a lot better than last week; I'm not going to lie," Duckworth said. "Someone asked me, 'Did you expect that?' I did expect that. This is the kind of beam team we are. Last week, we're going to look back at the season and hope that it was a good reminder, keeps you honest. We've got to stay focused and hopefully we can continue to get better."

The Crimson Tide closed out the meet on floor exercise, where the team is ranked first in the country. Kaitlyn Clark's 9.9 led the way, her second career-high of the night, passing her score of 9.875 from last week's meet. Alabama scored a 49.35, clinching the meet after Florida finished with an even 49 on beam.

Alabama's score of 197.4 was its highest score of the season by more than a full point, surpassing the season opening score of 196.225. The Crimson Tide posted season-best scores in every event except floor exercise. Friday's win marked the second consecutive win over a No. 1 ranked team in Coleman Coliseum and an important win for Duckworth in her first season as Alabama's head coach.

"I think that having a team that has won a national championship come to your arena gives you the opportunity to show what you have to offer, what your team can do, no matter who that is," Duckworth said. "It's kind of fun to be able to focus on what you need to do and get the W. It flows very well."

Vault
Keely McNeer 9.825
Mackenzie Brannan 9.9
Katie Bailey 9.875
Kaitlyn Clark 9.975
Lauren Beers 9.875
Kayla Williams 9.875

Uneven bars
Mackenzie Brannan 9.775
Keely McNeer 9.825
Katie Bailey 9.8
Aja Sims 9.85
Amanda Jetter 9.85
Lauren Beers 9.9

Balance beam
Kayla Williams 9.85
Katie Bailey 9.9
Keely McNeer 9.875
Lauren Beers 9.85
Kaitlyn Clark 9.85
Aja Sims 9.85

Floor exercise
Katie Bailey 9.875
Aja Sims 9.85
Carley Sims 9.85
Kaitlyn Clark 9.9
Lauren Beers 9.875
Lora Leigh Frost 9.95

https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1728735

 

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Way to bounce back ladies! Roll Tide!