Alabama Gymnastics Embodies 'For Her' in Power of Pink Win over Georgia
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — There is always a special type of energy for the Power of Pink meet, but halfway through Alabama's floor rotation things fell silent inside Coleman Coliseum.
On her final tumbling pass on the floor exercise, Makarri Doggette landed short and fell awkwardly leaving her unable to finish the routine. What happened next was nothing sort of Power of Pink magic with three straight scores of 9.9 or better from Lilly Hudson, Luisa Blanco and Lexi Graber in front of a fired up Coleman crowd.
"That routine was for Makarri Doggette, period," Hudson said, who immediately followed the injury with a 9.95. "She was on my mind the whole routine. I love her to death, and I'm just praying she's OK. But it just says a lot about how close and how tight this team is. We care for each other so much, and that's what makes us great. And that's what's gonna make us do great things."
The big scores from that trio boosted the Crimson Tide to its second-highest floor score of the season at 49.500 and an overall score of 197.475, which was enough for the win over Georgia (196.800) Friday night.
After being carried off the floor, Doggette was able to walk from the training table to the locker room and came out on the floor after the meet in a walking boot. Head coach Dana Duckworth said for now they know her Achilles is fine, and she will be further evaluated going forward.
"What's beautiful is when someone makes a mistake, or someone has had an injury, the next person is ready to go," Duckworth said. "They step up, they step in and they deliver. And they do it in such a beautiful manner with confidence and grace."
Duckworth called the energy electric, truly showcasing the power of the Power of Pink. The meet is designed to bring awareness to breast cancer early detection, treatment and research. Before the meet, around a dozen women who are currently fighting or have beat breast cancer were honored before the crowd of nearly 11,000.
It was another big night for Shallon Olsen who continued her good work in the leadoff spot on vault with a 9.9. She was added into the balance beam lineup mid-meet and scored a 9.9
"When Dana told me that I was going bounce beam, I was just ecstatic," Olsen said. "I was so excited and so ready to go out there and kill it. And then I didn't even look at the score, but I was just focused on doing my best."
Olsen's 9.9 was the highest score on beam as the Crimson Tide went 49.225 on the apparatus. She also had the team high on vault where Alabama scored a 49.250.
Outside of the floor exercise, Alabama's other strong event on the night was the uneven bars where the team also scored a 49.500. It was the second-highest bars score of the season. Hudson led off the event with a career high 9.9 after not competing on bars last week. Cam Machado, Doggette and Luisa Blanco closed out the event with three straight scores of 9.9 or higher.
"I just wanted to go out there and start us off strong to light a fire for the next person, the next person and the next person," Hudson said. "And I think we did a really good job tonight of just doing what we do in the gym, and it turned out well for us."
Alabama Athletics
Alabama Athletics
Alabama Athletics
Alabama Athletics
Despite not having Mati Waligora and the injury to Doggette, it was still the fourth straight meet Alabama has scored above a 197. Duckworth said she is hopeful that Doggette will be back as soon as possible, but while she is gone, the team has the depth needed to fill in.
"I'm very confident that we'll continue to climb, and if we practice and continue to increase our averages in the gym, then those averages should increase in competition," Duckworth said.
