Diandra Milliner Earns SEC Gymnast of the Week Honors
2/7/2012 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
Feb. 7, 2012
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - University of Alabama sophomore Diandra Milliner was named the Southeastern Conference Gymnast of the Week the league office announced Tuesday.
Milliner earned the honor after helping lead the Crimson Tide to a win over then No. 3 ranked Florida last Friday. The Wichita, Kan., native posted a perfect 10.0 on the vault against the Gators, propelling Alabama to a 49.6 team score, the highest total in the nation this season.
"Diandra had a tremendous meet to help us beat Florida, from scoring a 10.0 on the vault to earning a career-best 9.9 on the balance beam," UA head coach Sarah Patterson said. "She does one of the most difficult vaults in the nation and Friday night her power and distance, coupled with a stuck landing, were simply extraordinary."
In addition to winning the vault, she also took top honors on the balance beam with a career-best 9.9. Milliner then closed out her night with a 9.9 on the floor exercise, just .025 off her career high on that event. She helped the Tide to a 197.725 team score, the highest in the nation last week and the second highest in the nation this season.
Milliner is one of just three gymnasts in the nation to earn a perfect 10.0 this season, and one of only two in the SEC, with the other being teammate Geralen Stack-Eaton, who posted a 10 in the first meet of the season. Milliner is the second UA gymnast to earn SEC Gymnast of the Week honors, following Stack-Eaton, who earned the honor after the Tide's win over Georgia to start the season.
"Scoring a perfect 10.0 can be a once in a lifetime experience, which is why I was so excited to see Diandra have that moment and be able to share it with her teammates and our amazing crowd," Patterson said.
Prior to Milliner and Stack-Eaton, the last Alabama gymnast to score a 10.0 was Ashley Miles, who posted two in the 2005 NCAA Championships Super Six Team Finals. The last time two different UA gymnasts scored 10.0s in the same season was 2003 when Miles and Jeana Rice both posted perfect marks.
Milliner and her Tide teammates travel to Lexington, Ky. to take on Kentucky this Friday before returning home Friday, Feb. 17 against No. 3 Arkansas for the Tide's eighth annual Power of Pink meet. Tickets are available through the Alabama Ticket Office (205.348.2262) located in the lobby of Coleman Coliseum, and online at RollTide.com.
Players Mentioned
