Alabama Gymnastics Earns Highest Road Score of Season in Regular Season Finale
Alabama gymnastics will be rolling into the postseason on a high note.
The Crimson Tide put up its best road score of the season with a 198.025 at Oklahoma on Sunday afternoon. It was no match for the Sooners' program record (and highest score in collegiate gymnastics this season) of 198.775, but Alabama did what it needed to do to build confidence and improve its standing heading into postseason.
With the big road score, Alabama will be able to improve its National Qualifying Score (NQS), which is used to determine postseason seeding. This was the second straight meet the Crimson Tide has scored in the 198-range and the second-highest overall score of the season.
"This was an incredibly valuable experience to finish the season on the road," Alabama head coach Ashley Johnston said after the meet. "It's easy to think that we're just preparing for SECs and postseason at this point, but they didn't get ahead of themselves. They stayed present. They wanted to make the absolute most of this moment, and I'm just proud of how they continue to ground themselves."
Fifth-year Luisa Blanco led the way for the Crimson Tide with a 39.750 in the all-around highlighted by 9.975s on the uneven bars and balance beam. She finished second in the all-around behind Oklahoma's Jordan Bowers.
Junior Corrine Bunagan set a new career high with a 9.925 on the vault after she stuck the landing on her Yurchenko 1.5. She finished tied in first place on the apparatus for the meet.
In the final rotation, Alabama put together its best beam performance of the season with a 49.625. The lowest counted score on the event for the Crimson Tide was a 9.9.
Alabama now has quick turnaround before postseason begins this Friday with the SEC Championship meet in New Orleans.
"We'll use this to recover, get one or two days of training before we're down in New Orleans," Johnston said. "So it's a quick turnaround, and to be able to come off of a great road score like this definitely helps just reassure everybody that it's worth the fight, it's worth the effort."
How it happened...
(latest updates at the top)
Unofficial final score: Oklahoma 198.775, Alabama 198.025
- Alabama puts up its best road score and second-highest total of the year in regular season finale.
- Oklahoma sets a new program record for highest score.
Rotation 4: (Alabama beam 49.625 , Oklahoma floor 49.825)
Alabama beam lineup:
1. Lilly Hudson- Strong routine capped by a stuck dismount. If Alabama gets scored similarly on this event to how Oklahoma just was, this should be a big score- 9.875 (it was not scored similarly to Oklahoma)
2. Mati Waligora- Slight balance check on one of her passes, but she finishes the routine with a stuck dismount- 9.9 (season high)
3. Ella Burgess- Third straight stuck dismount on beam for Alabama. Really strong routine for Burgess- 9.925
4. Gabby Gladieux- Fourth straight stuck dismount for the Tide. This deserves a high score- 9.925 (a little under-scored in my opinion)
5. Shania Adams- She nearly falls off the beam on her wolf turns, but she manages to hang on. Has a couple balance checks throughout- 9.9
6. Luisa Blanco- Beautiful routine from Blanco. This should be Alabama's highest score- 9.975
Alabama beam total: 49.625 (highest beam score of season)
Score after Rotation 3: Oklahoma 148.950, Alabama 148.400
Rotation 3: (Alabama floor exercise 49.525, Oklahoma balance beam 49.700)
Alabama floor lineup:
1. Mati Waligora-Solid routine to open up the rotation with no major mistakes- 9.875
*Oklahoma's second gymnast in the balance beam lineup falls off the beam, which puts pressure on the rest of the lineup.
2. Ella Burgess- Powerful routine from Burgess. I didn't spot any major deductions- 9.9
3. Jamison Sears- Energetic and fun routine for Sears- 9.925 (new season high)
4. Lilly Hudson- She was maybe a little under-rotated on her first tumbling pass but was able to cover it up. She over-rotates on her second pass and has to take a couple steps back. Alabama will want to drop this score- 9.8
5. Luisa Blanco- Not her cleanest floor routine, but it should still be a good score for the Crimson Tide- 9.9
*Oklahoma's anchor on beam hits her routine, so the Sooners will be able to drop the fall. Even though Ragan Smith had a big wobble during her routine, she still scored a 9.95.
6. Gabby Gladieux- She wasn't in full control of the landing on her final tumbling pass, but it should be a good score- 9.925
Alabama floor total: 49.525
Score after Rotation 2: Oklahoma 99.250, Alabama 98.875
- Oklahoma is able to drop the fall and has every other gymnast scoring a 9.925 or better. Three OU gymnasts scored a 9.975 on bars, proving why the Sooners are the best bars team in the country.
Rotation 2: (Alabama vault 49.375, Oklahoma uneven bars 49.800)
Alabama vault lineup:
1. Jamison Sears- Yurchenko full- 9.8
2. Corinne Bunagan- Wow, she sticks her Yurchenko 1.5. This should be a big score for Alabama- 9.925
3. Chloe LaCoursiere- She got a little off center on her Yurchenko full- 9.75
*Oklahoma's third gymnast on bars falls. The Sooners will want to drop this score
4. Lilly Hudson- Big Yurchenko 1.5 for Hudson with just a small hop on the landing- 9.9
5. Gabby Gladieux- Solid Yurchenko full for Gladieux- 9.85
6. Luisa Blanco- Big Yurchenko 1.5 with a hop on the landing- 9.9
Alabama vault total: 49.375
Score after Rotation 1: Alabama 49.500, Oklahoma 49.450
- Great start to the meet for Alabama on bars after struggling on the event last time out.
Rotation 1: (Alabama uneven bars 49.500, Oklahoma vault 49.450)
Alabama bars lineup:
1. Lilly Hudson- A little short on one of her handstands. She did stick her dismount, but had to squat pretty low- 9.825
2. Chloe LaCoursiere- Solid routine from Chloe, but she wasn't quite able to hold onto her dismount- 9.85
3. Shania Adams- Overextended on her final handstand and had to take a small slide on her dismount. No major mistakes though- 9.925
4. Mati Waligora- Slight hop on her landing, but another good bars routine for Alabama- 9.825
4. Cam Machado- Alabama finally gets a stuck dismount on bars. Beautiful routine from Machado- 9.925
6. Luisa Blanco- Stunning routine by Blanco capped by a stuck dismount- 9.975 (new season high and ties career high)
Alabama bars score: 49.500
Pre-meet notes
(courtesy of Alabama Athletics)
SUNDAY’S MEET
- Alabama is led by Ashley Johnston, in her second season as UA’s head coach, while K.J. Kindler is in her 17th season at the helm of the Sooners
- The Tide and the Sooners last competed against each other in Feb. 2023 at the Metroplex Challenge where Oklahoma captured a first-place finish (198.125) with Alabama closing the quad meet with a 198.000 score
- The Crimson Tide and the Sooners will meet for the final time as nonconference opponents on Sunday, as Oklahoma will join the Southeastern Conference July 1 of this year
- Alabama and Oklahoma hold a total of 29 conference titles (10 SEC titles for the Tide, 19 Big 12 titles for the Sooners) between them, as well as 12 total NCAA championships – six apiece
LAST TIME OUT
- Luisa Blanco became the first UA gymnast in 19 years to register multiple Perfect 10s on the same night (vault, floor exercise)
- Blanco now joins legendary UA gymnast Dee Foster as the only two gymnasts in program history to capture at least one perfect 10.0 score on three of the four events during their career at Alabama
- Six gymnasts posted a total of 12 9.900-or-higher scores across the four events, with three gymnasts capturing multiple 9.900s-or-higher
- Five gymnasts posted at least a 9.900 on the floor exercise as Alabama steamrolled to a 49.725 marking – its second-highest score on the apparatus in program history
THE TIDE IN THE RANKINGS
- Alabama ranks third, nationally, on the uneven bars, with a NQS of 49.530, while simultaneously posting top-six rankings on all four events within the Southeastern Conference (No. 1 – UB; No. 4 – VT; No. 5 – BB; No. 6 – FX)
- Individually, Luisa Blanco holds top-20 national rankings on vault (6th – 9.925 NQS), all-around (12th – 39.630 NQS), uneven bars (14th – 9.930 NQS) and balance beam (19th – 9.915 NQS)
- Joining Blanco (sixth) in the conference uneven bars rankings is Cameron Machado (seventh) and Chloe LaCoursiere (ninth) to put three Alabama gymnasts in the top 10
