No. 8 Alabama Gymnastics Faces No. 2 Florida Friday in Gainesville

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 8 Alabama gymnastics team is in Gainesville, Fla., to take on No. 2 Florida in the Exactech Arena at the Stephen O' Connell Center on Friday. The meet will be broadcast live on SEC Network starting at 5 p.m. CT.

It will be the Crimson Tide's fourth road contest as well as its fifth Southeastern Conference meet of the season. After two weeks at home, it will also mark the Tide's first road meet since defeating LSU on Jan. 31. The Gators are returning home after a road victory over No. 20 Auburn last weekend.

The two teams have faced off in 10 regular-season meetings since 2010, with the series tied at 5-5 over that span. The Tide and Gators are also tied with 36 NCAA Championship appearances apiece, two behind all-time leader Utah.

Head Coach Dana Duckworth Says

"It's taking that confidence that they've had and the consistency and building off of it for this week, focusing on the process and not being concerned with outcomes and results."

In the Rankings

Alabama is currently ranked No. 8 in the nation with a 196.825 average after six meets, following a 196.625 against Arkansas last week.
In the latest national rankings, Alabama is fifth on the uneven bars (49.338) and floor exercise (49.338), seventh on vault (49.196) and 13th on balance beam (48.988).
Individually, freshman Makarri Doggette is ranked seventh in the all-around, 10th on the uneven bars and 18th in the vault.
Junior Lexi Graber is 12th and senior Maddie Desch is 16th in the floor exercise, while senior Shea Mahoney is 15th in the uneven bars.
Freshman Luisa Blanco is 15th in the balance beam.

Inside the Score Sheet

A total of 13 gymnasts have gone in the Tide's competitive lineup this season, with all 13 contributing at least five routines this season.
The freshman class leads the way for the Tide with Doggette, Blanco and Ella Burgess combining for 43 routines over the first six meets.
All three seniors and all three juniors have gone in the lineup this season with the juniors contributing 37 routines and the seniors 32. Four sophomores have gone in the lineup to this point in the season, chipping in 32 routines.
Graber leads the Tide with 22 routines this season, including five all-around appearances, while Doggette is second with 17 routines, competing on uneven bars in every meet so far this season and on the balance beam and floor exercise in five meets. Doggette made her debut in the vault and all-around against Missouri on Feb. 14.
Graber has scored 9.875-or-better in 14 of her 22 routines, including five consecutive 9.9-or-better marks on the floor exercise.
Blanco led the Tide on balance beam in the first five meets this season, scoring 9.875-or-better in each of those five routines, with three of the scores going 9.9-or-better.
Blanco and Burgess have competed in the Tide's vault and balance beam lineups in every meet to this point in the season, while sophomore Shallon Olsen has done the same on vault and floor exercise.
Senior Shea Mahoney has gone in the uneven bars lineup five times this season, scoring 9.850-or-better each time, including a season-best 9.925 against Missouri. Mahoney has also posted a trio of 9.850s on the vault, leading the Tide against LSU.
The Crimson Tide posted four consecutive scores of 9.9-or-better on the floor exercise in its final rotation against Arkansas last Friday following an injury to sophomore Griffin James in the leadoff position. Junior Alonza Klopfer stepped in as Alabama's anchor and scored a career-best 9.85 to close out the season-best 49.525 rotation.
The Tide's floor exercise total against the Razorbacks was its highest since going 49.575 on the event against Oklahoma on March 16, 2018.

Up Next

Following its meet at Florida this Friday, Alabama closes out its home slate with back-to-back conference meets, taking on Kentucky on Feb. 28 and Georgia on March 7 in Coleman Coliseum.
Both meets will be broadcast live on the SEC Network and will get underway at 7:15 p.m. CT.

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.