Alabama
Georgia
Alabama Gymnastics Opens SEC Competition Friday on the Road at Georgia
1/17/2019 2:57:00 PM | Gymnastics
The meet will be broadcast live on the SEC Network from Stegeman Coliseum Friday starting at 6:30 p.m. CT
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – After opening with a pair of home quad meets, this weekend is going to have a different look for the Alabama gymnastics team when it competes against Georgia on Friday. The Crimson Tide is on the road for the first time in 2019 and will compete in its first dual meet of the season while also opening Southeastern Conference competition with the Bulldogs.
"The biggest things about going on the road is to create your energy that helps your team and to not focus on anything besides staying in our moment and winning our moments," UA head coach Dana Duckworth said.
The meet, which starts at 6:30 p.m. CT, will be held in Stegeman Coliseum and broadcasted live on the SEC Network where John Roethlisberger and Alicia Sacramone Quinn will call the action.
The Tide comes into the meet with a 5-1-0 record following the first two weeks of competition. Georgia is 1-1-0 after opening at home with a win over Ohio State and falling at Oklahoma last weekend.
"From the first week to the second, we had tremendous improvement and growth," Duckworth said. "We've worked very hard on every event to make the kind of improvements that will continue to move us ahead and I am looking forward to them executing that in Athens."
Friday also marks the renewal of what ESPN has called one of the best rivalries in collegiate sports. The two teams met four times last season, including three times in the postseason, with Alabama coming away with a 3-1 advantage.
Both teams are young, with each sporting 11 freshmen and sophomores on their rosters, including a program-record nine freshmen for Georgia.
In addition to both being very young this season, the two teams also have similarities when it comes to their head coaches. Duckworth, in her fifth season as Alabama's leader, and Courtney Kupets Carter, in her second coaching UGA, are both leading their alma maters. Both were members of the USA National Team and were All–Americans and CoSIDA Academic All–Americans and won NCAA individual and team titles. Coincidently, both also worked in television following graduation, with Duckworth working for NBC during the 1996 Olympic Games and Kupets working as an analyst for the SEC Network.
Alabama last faced the Bulldogs in Athens on March 5, 2017, with the Tide getting the win, 197.700-197.325.
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.
