Alabama Gymnastics Set to Compete at the 2019 SEC Championships
3/22/2019 2:30:00 PM | Gymnastics
All eight SEC schools that sponsor gymnastics are ranked in the top-20 nationally heading into the postseason, a conference first
NEW ORLEANS – Following a 90-minute practice session at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, the No. 10 ranked Alabama gymnastics team is set for Saturday's Southeastern Conference Championships.
"The ladies adjusted well today in practice," UA head coach Dana Duckworth said. "We asked them to stay ultra-focused and work on the details and we feel they did their job on all four events."
The championships will be held on podium, which makes the practice day important in terms of adjusting to the equipment. Alabama will be in the 3 p.m. CT session of this year's championships along with No. 12 Auburn, No. 19 Missouri and No. 20 Arkansas. No. 3 LSU, No. 4 Florida, No. 8 Georgia and No. 9 Kentucky will compete in the 7 p.m. CT session.
"The energy was good and the arena looks great," Duckworth said. "We want to thank the SEC office and planning committee of New Orleans for the grand welcome and all the hard work to make the event a success for our student-athletes."
The team with the top score from the two sessions will be crowned SEC Champion. Individually, the top scorer on each apparatus and the all-around, along with ties, will earn SEC gold.
Both sessions will be broadcast live again this season, with the 3 p.m. session airing on the SEC Network, while the 7 p.m. session will be broadcast on ESPN2. Olympians Bart Conner and Kathy Johnson Clarke will call the action for both sessions.
Alabama is coming off its best team total of the season, a 197.250 at No. 1 Oklahoma last Friday. It has also posted its top two scores of the season in the past two weeks, both on the road. The Tide has competed against seven of the remaining nine members of this week's top-10 and six of its top-seven scores of 2019 have come on the road.
Alabama finished second at last year's SEC Championships, marking its 20th-consecutive top-three finish. It was also the 29th time Alabama had finished first or second at the conference championships.
Senior Ariana Guerra won the SEC floor exercise title in St. Louis, Mo., last year, while Lexi Graber earned SEC All-Freshman honors to kick off her first championship season.
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.
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