Alabama's Luisa Blanco Named 2021 SEC Gymnast of the Year
The Southeastern Conference announced its annual gymnastics awards, voted on by the head coaches from each institution, for the 2021 season.
Luisa Blanco of Alabama was named the SEC Gymnast of the Year, while Derrian Gobourne of Auburn and Kiya Johnson of LSU share the Event Specialist of the Year honors. Haleigh Bryant of LSU was tabbed the Freshman of the Year, and Jenny Rowland of Florida was voted the SEC Coach of the Year.
At the 2021 SEC Gymnastics Championships, Blanco was the winner of the all-around with her score of 39.800, which is tied for the second highest all-around score in SEC Championship history behind Jeana Rice's 2004 record of 39.850. She was also co-champion on vault (9.95), bars (9.95) and balance beam (9.95) and tied for second place on floor (9.95) to help the Crimson Tide earn their 10th SEC Championship title. Blanco is the second Alabama gymnast to win four or more SEC titles in a single season and only the fifth in league history. She owns the third and fourth highest all-around totals in Alabama history after going 39.825 to win the all-around against LSU and a 39.800 to win the SEC title.
Blanco also won the all-around against Florida (39.700), Georgia (39.625) and Arkansas (39.550) this season. She competed in the all-around in the last six meets of this season, winning the last five. Through nine meets this season, Blanco has won 18 individual titles, including six on the balance beam and three each on the vault and uneven bars. She owns the second highest all-around average in the nation and the highest in the Southeastern Conference by almost a tenth (39.646). Blanco also had the highest balance beam average (9.925) in the conference and third highest in the nation. She is the only Crimson Tide gymnast with two scores of 39.800-or-better.
The Crimson Tide also had six members make First Team All-SEC, including Blanco, Shania Adams, Shallon Olsen, Kaylee Quinn, Lexi Graber and Makarri Doggette.
Gobourne won floor titles throughout the regular season and finished with an NQS of 9.956 in the event to tie for fourth place nationally. She reached a career-high 9.975 on two occasions and scored a 9.9 or better seven times this year. In the first session of the 2021 SEC Gymnastics Championships, Gobourne tied for second place on floor with a 9.9 to earn a spot on the All-SEC Team. She also anchored the Tigers on bars all season, earning three event titles on the year. Gobourne recorded a career-best 9.95 twice on the event and scored a 9.9 or better five times. She now owns an NQS of 9.913 on bars after tying for third place in the first session of the SEC Championships. Gobourne won two vault titles this season after serving as anchor most of the season and has an NQS of 9.894 on the event.
Johnson captured the floor exercise title at the 2021 SEC Gymnastics Championships with a perfect 10.0 in her postseason debut. She became the 10th gymnast in conference history to score a 10.0 on the floor exercise at the SEC Championships. Johnson joined fellow LSU gymnasts Sarah Finnegan (2019) and Ashleigh Gnat (2017) as the only competitors to score a 10 at the SEC meet on floor in the past five years. She finished the season as the top performer in the country on floor, competing in four meets on the event and scoring a perfect 10.0 three times. Johnson is tied with Trinity Thomas of Florida and Anastasia Webb of Oklahoma for the most perfect scores in the country this season, with Johnson and Thomas the only gymnasts with multiple perfect scores on floor. She also has an NQS of 9.925 on vault, tying her for 12th place nationally, after scoring a 9.95 three times this season. Johnson has recorded season highs of 9.95 on vault, 9.925 on bars, 9.925 on beam and 10.0 on floor.
Bryant earned a share of the vault title at the 2021 SEC Gymnastics Championships with a 9.95, the seventh LSU freshman to win an SEC title in program history. Nationally, she is currently third on vault (9.956 NQS), fourth on vault (9.956 NQS) and ninth in the all-around (39.594 NQS), the highest rankings by any freshman in the Southeastern Conference. Bryant leads the league on vault while ranking third on floor and fourth in the all-around amongst the SEC gymnasts. She owns career highs of 10 on vault, 9.90 on bars, 9.9 on beam, 9.975 on floor and 39.625 in the all-around. Bryant is the only freshman in the SEC and just one of two in the country to score a 10 this season. In her debut season, she scored a 9.90 or better eight times on vault and seven times on floor. In nine meets, Bryant won 11 total titles with five on vault, four in the all-around and two on floor.
This season, Rowland led the Gators to their third consecutive SEC regular-season title with a record of 7-0 in conference meets and an 8-0 record during the conference-only regular season. Florida claimed the top overall seed for the 2021 NCAA Gymnastics Championships and is set to compete in the Athens Regional on April 1-3. Florida is tied for first place with Oklahoma with a team NQS of 197.944 and scored the highest team score this season with a 198.275 against Auburn on February 26. In the national rankings, the Gators are first on beam (49.656) and floor exercise (49.54 NQS), fourth on vault (49.488 NQS) and fifth on bars (49.475 NQS).
2021 SEC Gymnastics Awards
Gymnast of the Year: Luisa Blanco, Alabama
Co-Event Specialists of the Year: Derrian Gobourne, Auburn and Kiya Johnson, LSU
Freshman of the Year: Haleigh Bryant, LSU
Coach of the Year: Jenny Rowland, Florida
All-SEC
Shania Adams, Alabama
Luisa Blanco, Alabama
Makarri Doggette, Alabama
Lexi Graber, Alabama
Shallon Olsen, Alabama
Kaylee Quinn, Alabama
Sophia Carter, Arkansas
Derrian Gobourne, Auburn
Cassie Stevens, Auburn
Drew Watson, Auburn
Alyssa Baumann, Florida
Leah Clapper, Florida
Ellie Lazzari, Florida
Megan Skaggs, Florida
Josie Angeny, Kentucky
Bailey Bunn, Kentucky
Anna Haigis, Kentucky
Arianna Patterson, Kentucky
Raena Worley, Kentucky
Elena Arenas, LSU
Haleigh Bryant, LSU
Kiya Johnson, LSU
Alyona Shchennikova, LSU
Sienna Schreiber, Missouri
All-Freshman
Shania Adams, Alabama
Ellie Lazzari, Florida
Bailey Bunn, Kentucky
Elena Arenas, LSU
Haleigh Bryant, LSU
Amaya Marshall, Missouri
