South Coast Times

No. 10 Alabama Gymnastics Finishes Second at 2023 SEC Championships

The No. 10 Alabama gymnastics team finished in second place at the 2023 SEC Championships, tying its second-best score of the season with a 197.925.

Alabama earned a 49.375 on balance beam to start off the meet, led by a 9.950 from Luisa Blanco. The Crimson Tide posted its highest rotation score of the night on floor exercise, a 49.550, to move into second place behind the top-seeded Florida Gators at the halfway point. Alabama maintained its position with a 49.525 on the vault, tying UA's season-best on the event, before closing out the night with a 49.400 on the uneven bars.

Freshman Gabby Gladieux earned the SEC title on the vault in a four-way tie, marking her first vault event title of the season. Gladieux scored a 9.950 in the leadoff position, earning a perfect score for her Yurchenko full, which has a start value of 9.950.

The Crimson Tide came into the championship as the No. 4 seed in the conference and No. 10 nationally, defeating No. 6 LSU (197.800), No. 8 Kentucky (197.675), No. 12 Auburn (197.100), No. 17 Missouri (197.000), No. 16 Arkansas (196.825) and No. 18 Georgia (196.600). The No. 3 Florida Gators took home the title with a 198.425.

Head Coach Ashley Johnston said

"We had a lot to celebrate tonight. We finished second out of eight teams in the best conference in the country, and all eight of the teams are ranked in the top 20 nationally. Gabby winning the vault title is a huge deal, especially as a freshman. It was really special that she did it with a Yurchenko full. We've been going back-and-forth on whether or not she would compete that vault or a Yurchenko 1.5, and she bought into the process of committing to the details and it was great to see that pay off. That was really the theme of tonight. Every single athlete committed to owning their process and doing the little things to collectively help big performances come together. I'm really proud of how they competed tonight, and how they handled adversity and stayed together. I believe the best is still to come for this team."

Inside the Scoresheet

• Alabama is the only team in conference history who has never finished outside of the top four at the SEC Championships
• The Tide has now finished in the top two at the conference championship 32 times, including each of the past three seasons
• The Crimson Tide's team score of 197.925 ties for its second-highest of the season, giving UA four team totals this year that rank in the top 20 all-time in program history
• Luisa Blanco finished second in the all-around with a 39.675, posting scores of 9.9-or-higher on all four events
• Blanco scored a 9.950 on the balance beam to lead Alabama to a 49.375 in its opening rotation
• The Tide earned four scores of 9.9-or-higher on floor exercise on the way to a 49.550 rotation total, with Lilly Hudson (9.950), Blanco (9.925), Gabby Gladieux (9.900) and Shania Adams (9.900) all hitting the mark
• Gladieux earned a 9.950 to tie for the individual SEC title on the vault, leading UA to a season-best-tying 49.525 on the event
• Alabama closed out its night on the uneven bars with a 49.400 rotation total, with four consecutive scores of 9.900 from Jordyn Paradise, Mati Waligora, Cam Machado and Blanco
• Paradise's 9.900 is a career-best for the sophomore
• Alabama totaled 13 scores of 9.9-or-higher, with Blanco (9.950) on the balance beam, Hudson (9.950), Blanco (9.925), Gladieux (9.900) and Adams (9.900) on the floor exercise, Blanco (9.900), Makarri Doggette (9.900), Shallon Olsen (9.925) and Gladieux (9.950) on the vault, and Paradise (9.900), Waligora (9.900), Machado (9.900) and Blanco (9.900) on the uneven bars

Up Next

• Alabama will be placed in one of four regionals and will compete in the NCAA Regional Championships on March 30-April 2
• The NCAA Selection Show will be held on Monday, March 20, at 11 a.m. CT

For all the latest information on Alabama gymnastics, follow BamaGymnastics on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Original source can be found here