Freshmen Shine in Alabama Gymnastics' Season-Opening Win over Clemson

Azaraya Ra-Akbar had a near-perfect uneven bars routine, and Jasmine Cawley won the all-around as the Crimson Tide scored a 197.475 to start the season.

Alabama freshman gymnast Azaraya Ra-Akbar on vault | UA Athletics

Ashley Johnston's lineups are full of veterans, but it was the freshmen who stole the show in Alabama gymnastics' season opener at Clemson on Friday night.

Alabama set the tone with a strong uneven bars rotation right out the gate and never looked back on the way to a 197.475-196.550 win over Clemson. It is the highest season-openings score in program history.

"I’m extremely excited about how this team started out tonight," Johnston said after the meet. "I think one of our main goals was to compete like it was the sixth meet of the season and not like it was our first. I feel like our team competed with a lot of poise, a lot of confidence, and really their approach all around was exactly what we’ve been talking about, what we wanted to see them bring to life. They had a lot of personality. They had a lot of fun. They stayed calm. They had real cool heads and were composed, and that’s really what it’s all about. When they can get themselves in that place, they’re able to perform at a really high level."

In her first ever collegiate routine, true freshman Azaraya Ra-Akbar was nearly perfect with a 9.975 on a stunning even bars routine. Her 9.975 was the highest score of any gymnast all night. However, that wasn't her only good score of the night. She also earned a 9.875 on vault and 9.85 on floor exercise.

WELCOME TO COLLEGIATE GYMNASTICS, MISS AZA

9.975 for the freshman!!

📺 ACCNX#RollTide pic.twitter.com/CqeRvpN0t8

— Alabama Gymnastics (@BamaGymnastics) January 10, 2026

"I think Aza has an incredible ability to be one of the top NCAA gymnasts in the country," Johnston said. "There’s a lot to be excited for, and I think fans are really just going to fall in love with her."

Also making her collegiate debut, Jasmine Cawley won the all-around with a 39.475. She won the vault title with a 9.9 and also scored 9.9 on balance beam for the Crimson Tide. Both Cawley and Ra-Akbar let the college gymnastics world know what kind of talent they will be bringing at Alabama over the next four seasons.

Johnston had enough trust in her true freshmen to have them anchor and lead off multiple lineups. Fellow freshman Noella Marshall competed an exhibition routine on the vault, and McKenzie Matters led off on floor.

"I am so excited for our freshmen," Johnston said. "They have been training like rockstars, but I think you never quite know how they’re going to respond to a hype environment like this until they’re in it… you could feel the fire being lit, the momentum building for our whole team by seeing Jazzy, Noella, Aza and Kenzie all step in and compete so strong. Seeing their faces after their first competition and the look of pure joy is just really exciting."

That's a 9.900 from Jazzy in leadoff!!!

📺 ACCNX#RollTide pic.twitter.com/s3WJyqC1q9

— Alabama Gymnastics (@BamaGymnastics) January 10, 2026

Alabama scored a 49.425 on bars, beam and floor. The beam score would've been the team's third-highest all of last season. Chloe LaCoursiere set a new career high with a 9.925, and Gabby Ladanyi tied her career best with the same score. Alabama had pointed toes and stuck landings on bars with powerful and dynamic routines on floor exercise.

Vault was the Tide's lowest-scoring event with a 49.200, but each gymnast in the lineup did a 10.0 start value vault. Cawley's Yurchenko 1.5 was the best of the night.

Starting off the season with a 197.475 on the road is a great start and score to build upon for the rest of the year. Next up for the Crimson Tide will be the SEC opener at Florida on Jan. 16 at 6 p.m.

"Across the board, it was exciting to see some real breakthrough moments from both freshmen and upperclassmen—athletes that have been working on those quarter-tenths, half-tenths for months on months on months," Johnston said. "To see them approach it really aggressively and to see them break through to increase their scoring potential were huge individual moments of breakthrough, but really ultimately, a team breakthrough. It just helps us build a better team to be our best. Overall, I think a really strong start yet we have many tenths on the table. I think our stick percentage isn’t what we train as our average in the gym, so we’re going to be looking to be diving into that specifically going into next week.”

Alabama gymnastics at Clemson rotation scores | Virtius

Alabama rotation scores at Clemson | Virtius