Live Updates: No. 9 Alabama Gymnastics vs. No. 19 Georgia
No. 9 Alabama hits the road Friday night for a rivalry meet against No. 19 Georgia tonight in Athens.
The two teams last competed with each other in 2022 where Alabama secured the win. The Crimson Tide won by almost two whole points at the Elevate the Stage meet in Birmingham, which is a slim margin in other sports but a huge gap in gymnastics.
Last week, the Crimson Tide scored a 198 team all-around score. The team improved the most on vault with four major stuck landings. Making those sharp landings and finishes can make the difference between a great score and a perfect score.
Alabama has the capabilities of putting up another 198 score if it continues to show improvements on all four events.
The meet is scheduled to start at 6:00 p.m. CT and will be broadcasted on SEC Network.
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Live Updates
(latest updates at the top)
Final score: Alabama 197.525, Georgia 197.325
Statement from Crimson Tide coach Ashley Johnston, who was not available to reporters: “We really had to fight for this one tonight. Competing in back-to-back away meets is never easy on a team, and I was really proud of the way we went for it tonight and continued to work and adjust. It wasn’t always easy, but we plugged away and fought for every tenth. I think that is going to be what we learned most from tonight: how to be fighters.”
Rotation 4: Alabama balance beam (197.525), Georgia floor (197.325)
Alabama balance beam lineup
1. Ella Burgess- Very solid one-armed back handspring to layout step-out along with a side aerial. Strong jumps and stuck gainer pike dismount. 9.95
2. Rachel Rybicki- Slight wobble on her flight series. Seemed a little nervous as she had a couple of bobbles, but finished with a back 1.5 twisting dismount. 9.75
3. Mati Waligora- Solid back handspring back layout step-out along with a solid side-aerial. Finished with a roundoff 1.5 twisting dismount with a stuck landing. 9.875
4. Gabby Gladieux- Very strong back handspring two-foot layout. Solid front aerial to split jump. Slight wobble after straddle jump. High roundoff double back dismount with small step. 9.775
5. Lilly Hudson- Front foot came off the beam on her back handspring layout step-out but was able to save it. Solid side aerial and finished strongly with a stuck back 1.5 twisting dismount. 9.775
6. Luisa Blanco- Back handspring layout step-out with very slight balance check. Beautiful dance and stuck her back 1.5 twisting dismount. 9.95
Alabama balance beam total: 49.325
- Ella Burgess made a career high with a 9.95.
- The team seemed to be a little wobbly. When one teammate wobbles, sometimes it can lead to a domino effect.
Georgia floor lineup
1. Maeve Hahn- 9.825
2. Sandra Elsadek- 9.925
3. Naya Howard- 9.9
4. Amanda Cashman- 9.9
5. Haley de Jong- 9.7
6. Soraya Hawthrone- 9.95
Georgia floor total: 49.500
Rotation 3: Alabama floor (148.200), Georgia balance beam (147.825)
Alabama floor lineup
1. Mati Waligora- Opened with a front layout to front double full and ended with a powerful back 1.5 twist to a front layout. 9.9
2. Shallon Olsen- Started her routine with a full in double back pike and finished with a stuck front tuck step out to double back. 9.875
3. Shania Adams- Opened with a big double back pike. Finished with a back 1.5 twist to front layout with a small step on landing. 9.85
4. Gabby Gladieux- Sky high full-in as well as beautiful jumps. Front layout to Rudi to split jump. That three-combination pass is rare. 9.9
5. Lilly Hudson- Opened with a front layout to front double full. Her middle pass was a 2.5 back twist, and she squatted a little on her landing. Finished with a double back and just slightly under rotated. 9.8
6. Luisa Blanco- Started with a beautiful back double pike and then right into a double back with small step. Finished with flawless front full to front layout. 9.95
Alabama floor total: 49.475
- Pretty strong rotation for the Crimson Tide.
- Blanco has consistently made a 9.95 or higher on floor.
Georgia balance beam lineup
1. Naya Howard- 9.825
2. JaFree Scott- 9.8
3. Jacquie Moran- 9.5
4. Josie Angeny- 9.925
5. Vanessa Deniz- 9.925
6. Haley de Jong- 9.925
Georgia balance beam total: 49.400
Rotation 2: Alabama vault (98.725), Georgia uneven bars (98.425)
Alabama vault lineup
1. Makarri Doggette- Opened with a Yurchenko 1.5 but had a big step to the side indicating a little under rotation. 9.775
2. Lilly Hudson- Huge Yurchenko 1.5 with a slight hop on the landing. 9.9
3. Shallon Olsen- Beautiful double twisting Yurchenko with a very tiny hop. 9.95
4. Jordyn Paradise- Big Yurchenko 1.5 with slight hop. 9.75
5. Luisa Blanco- Great Yurchenko 1.5 but look a tiny step back with one foot. She tried fighting for that stick. 9.9
6. Gabby Gladieux- Very big Yurchenko full with slight hop. 9.825
Alabama vault total: 48.725
- Career high score for Shallon Olsen.
- The team struggled with having those stuck landings.
Georgia uneven bars lineup
1. Amanda Cashman- 9.725
2. Josie Angeny- 9.85
3. Naya Howard- 9.9
4. JaFree Scott- 9.825
5. Katie Finnegan- 9.9
6. Haley de Jong- 9.8
Georgia uneven bars total: 49.275
Rotation 1: Alabama uneven bars (49.375,) Georgia vault (49.150)
Alabama uneven bars lineup
1. Lilly Hudson- Solid release moves back-to-back with a blind-full to double back stuck landing dismount. 9.825
2. Karis German- Very controlled Pac Salto with good handstands. Only a slight hop on her double layout dismount. 9.775
3. Mati Waligora- Very strong Yaeger to bail with a full twisting double layout dismount with slight hop. 9.85
4. Cam Machado- Maloney to Pac Salto to third release move. Very challenging routine with a stuck landing on her double back. 9.85
5. Makarri Doggette- Huge Tkachev to bail. Beautiful lines with a stuck double layout dismount. 9.9
6. Luisa Blanco- Gorgeous Pac Salto to twisting Maloney with a stuck full twisting double back dismount. 9.95
Alabama uneven bars total: 49.375
- The team did well overall, but usually scores a little higher.
- Everyone hit their handstands which has caused unnecessary falls in the past.
Georgia vault lineup
1. Haley de Jong- 9.8
2. Katie Finnegan- 9.85
3. Josie Angeny- 9.825
4. Amanda Cashman- 9.825
5. Naya Howard- 9.85
6. Soraya Hawthrone- 9.75
Georgia vault total: 49.150
