Struggles on Best Events Snap Alabama Gymnastics’ 197+ Streak

The Alabama gymnastics coaching staff intentionally set up the schedule for the Crimson Tide to compete twice this weekend to prepare the team for the same format it would face in postseason.

Alabama performed well on Friday night against Florida, but some missteps on the balance beam prevented the Crimson Tide from winning and putting up a new season high. In Sunday’s Elevate the Stage meet in Huntsville against Cal, Michigan State and North Carolina, the script was flipped.

A season-high 49.475 was posted on beam to start the event, but then Alabama had two of its worst performances of the season on its two best events: floor exercise and uneven bars.

Alabama finished in third place with a 196.875 behind Cal (197.200) and Michigan State (197.150) and ahead of North Carolina (195.625.) It snapped Alabama’s three-meet streak of scoring at least a 197.350.

The Crimson Tide had two gymnasts step out of bounds on floor and one fall, which caused Alabama to count scores of 9.675 and 9.575 on the event leading to a team score of 49.025. This was the Tide’s worst floor score since Week 3 against Oklahoma

Alabama came into the meet ranked No. 6 in the national on floor.

The team bounced back in the third rotation on vault with a 49.275 led by a 9.925 from senior Lilly Hudson. Despite the earlier mistakes on floor, the vault rotation set Alabama up to still finish with a score in the 197 range if it could just perform at its average on the uneven bars.

Instead, the Crimson Tide struggled to find landings on the podium floor in Huntsville, and Shania Adams fell off the bars in the anchor spot, forcing Alabama to count two scores in the 9.7-range. The Tide ended up with a 49.100 on the event, which was its lowest bars score of the season.

Alabama now has one very important meet left in the regular season on Saturday at Michigan. It will be the final opportunity for Crimson Tide to put up a score that elevates its National Qualifying Score to a point where Alabama is one of the eight teams able to compete at the SEC Championship meet in Birmingham the following week.

Currently Alabama, Auburn and Arkansas are all fighting for the final spot in the conference championship meet. Only eight of the nine SEC teams will be allowed to compete. Alabama finishes the regular season on the road while both Auburn and Arkansas conclude at home.