Alabama Gymnasts Earn National Honors
4/17/2017 2:51:00 PM | Gymnastics
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – On Saturday, the Alabama gymnastics team posted its 35th consecutive top-10 finish at the NCAA Championships with its 10th NCAA Championships Super Six Team Finals appearance, finishing sixth nationally.
With its 2017 finish, Alabama is now the only school in the nation to finish in the top-six nationally the last 10 years in a row. It was also Alabama's NCAA-best 33rd top-six finish at the national championships.
Individually, senior Katie Bailey closed out her Crimson Tide career with her second individual NCAA title and first on the uneven bars. The NCAA vault champion in 2016 came back and won the uneven bars in 2017. Alabama gymnasts have now won 27 individual NCAA titles and Bailey is the seventh Tide gymnast to win multiple NCAA titles.
"To win a national championship on bars meant a lot to me because that's my favorite event," Bailey said. "And to have my team there cheering me on and my coaches by my side made it all the more special."
Bailey also earned championship All-America honors on the uneven bars for the fourth year in a row.
Junior Kiana Winston earned a trio of championship All-American honors in 2017, including first-team honors in the all-around and second-team accolades on the uneven bars and floor exercise. Senior Aja Sims earned First Team All-America honors on the balance beam while Keely McNeer, a balance beam All-American as a sophomore, closed out her Alabama career as a Second Team All-American on the uneven bars.
In addition to the championship All-America honors earned this past weekend, a trio of Alabama gymnasts earned regular season All-America honors. Junior Nickie Guerrero earned first-team honors on the balance beam while Sims earned second-team honors on the floor exercise. Winston is one of just three gymnasts in the nation to earn more than three regular season All-America accolades in 2017. The Fort Worth, Texas, native earned first-team recognition in the all-around, balance beam and floor exercise while taking second team on the uneven bars.
A total of 71 Alabama gymnasts have earned Championship All-America honors since Julie Garret earned the Tide's first honors in 1982. In all, eight Alabama gymnasts have earned regular season All-America honors since the award's inception in 2013.
Championship All-America honors are determined by individual finishes in the semifinal round of the NCAA Championships. Those who finish in the top four (including ties) of a session earn first-team honors while those finishing in the next four (including ties) earn second team.
Regular season All-America honors are based on the final regional qualifying scores of the season with the those ranked in the top eight (including ties) on each event and in the all-around earning first team and those ranked in the next eight (including ties) being named second team.
For all the latest information on Alabama gymnastics, follow BamaGymnastics on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and head coach Dana Duckworth on Twitter and Instagram at @UACoachDana.
Players Mentioned
