Alabama Gymnastics Seeking First NCAA Team Title Since 2012
Eight teams, four rotations, two nights of competition, and one national champion. It all comes down to this for Alabama gymnastics.
Competition for the NCAA gymnastics championship begins this Friday in Fort Worth, Texas with two semifinal sessions at noon and 5 p.m. The top two scores from each session will advance to the finals on Saturday afternoon to determine the national champion.
The first session features No. 1 Florida, No. 4 Michigan, No. 5 California and No. 8 Minnesota.
Seventh-ranked Alabama will compete in the evening session with No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 LSU and No. 6 Utah. Alabama has previously competed against LSU twice (once in Tuscaloosa and once at the SEC Championship) and topped the Tigers in both matchups. Alabama went up against Oklahoma in the regional finals, taking second place behind the Sooners to advance to the championship meet.
Alabama coach Dana Duckworth said Crimson Tide head football coach Nick Saban spoke to her team before they left for Fort Worth and told them that outcomes are a distraction. You have to focus on what you can do each day.
"Even though this format is about the top two teams qualify from day one into the finals, you have to focus on what you can do," Duckworth said. "We don't have offense and defense in gymnastics, and so I think that that's the the key. This team can believe in themselves, they can be present in the moment, and they can do what they do every day. And if we do that, I believe we will be advanced, but that's the job we have to do on Friday evening."
It will be no easy task for the Crimson Tide, but they have shown that they are capable of stepping up and producing high scores against some of the best teams in the country.
Alabama will be led by the SEC Gymnast of the Year, Luisa Blanco who scored her first perfect 10 during the regional final. Blanco has been a consistent scoring leader for the Tide all season.
When asked about the secret to her success, Blanco said there is none. It just comes down to training, the reps and the encouragement from her teammates and coaches. But according to senior Lexi Graber, "she's just that good."
Duckworth said Blanco's confidence and competitiveness in the practice gym translates out onto the competition floor each meet.
"No matter who you're rooting for you can't keep your eyes off of Luisa because she is just that beautiful," Duckworth said.
However, if Alabama wants to advance to the finals and eventually have a shot at the national championship, more gymnasts outside of Blanco will need to step up and produce stuck routines that result in 9.9 scores or higher. And Duckworth's roster has plenty of gymnasts who are able to do so.
Graber is one of two Alabama gymansts with experience competing at the NCAA championships. The event did not happen in 2020 due to COVID-19, and Alabama did not reach the finals in 2019, which was the first year of the new format moving from 12 teams at finals to eight.
Graber said she is grateful for the opportunity to lead her team back to the championships as a senior, returning for the first time since her freshman season.
"It was a long time ago, so I just remember having so much fun and not even worrying about the outcome," Graber said. "And so, I'm just excited to get back out there and actually know kind of what's going on. And to be back out there and staying in the moment again, and being with this team."
Along with Blanco, fellow sophomore Makarri Doggette scored her first perfect 10 at the Tuscaloosa Regional and will look to once again be a big part of the the uneven bars and beam lineups for Alabama. Junior Emily Gaskins stepped in at regionals and competed in the all-around for the first time all season, and contributed a high score in all four events.
Overall, Duckworth hopes her team can step back, enjoy the moment, and leave it all out there on the competition floor.
"My goal for this weekend is that we literally enjoy every moment, no matter what it looks like," Duckworth said. "No matter what is brought in front of us, that our women will stay in that Bama bubble. They will love one another, and they will put it all out there and not hold back for a second."
