No. 11 Alabama Gymnastics Travels to Fort Worth, Texas for Saturday’s Metroplex Challenge

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 11 Alabama gymnastics team will travel to Fort Worth, Texas, to compete in the Metroplex Challenge this Saturday, Feb. 11. The Crimson Tide will face off against three other top-25 teams in the event, with No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 16 Arkansas and No. 24 Stanford rounding out the stacked field.

The meet will be competed on podium and will follow the postseason format. The Tide will begin the meet on the uneven bars and move on to balance beam and floor exercise before finishing on the vault.

Saturday's contest will not be streamed, so fans can follow along on the Alabama Gymnastics social media accounts for updates, @BamaGymnastics on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Head Coach Ashley Johnston said

"Last Friday was a great night. There were a lot of things that went well that we were excited about, but there were also a lot of things that we can be even better at that I see in practice every day. It's important for us to dive into the little things and really understand where we're at and what the next steps are. This week is about trying to polish up some of those details and get rid of some little deductions so that we can maximize our performance on Saturday."

Saturday's Meet

Saturday's Metroplex Challenge will have two sessions, with Alabama competing in the evening session
No. 11 Alabama will face off against No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 16 Arkansas and No. 24 Stanford in the contest
The Crimson Tide and the Razorbacks last met on Jan. 13, with Alabama taking home a 196.525-195.525 victory in Fayetteville
The Sooners are the reigning national champions, and last competed against Alabama on Jan. 9, 2022, with Oklahoma winning the matchup 197.400-195.875 in Norman

Last Time Out

Alabama defeated the then-No. 6 Auburn Tigers Friday night in Coleman Coliseum, scoring a season-best 197.850 in the victory
The Tide trailed by .225 after the opening rotation and at the midway point, cutting the Tigers' lead to just .05 with a 49.650 on balance beam. The Tide closed out the win with a program record-tying 49.700 on floor exercise
- The Crimson Tide's 49.700 on the floor exercise is the highest score in the nation on the event so far this season
Luisa Blanco scored a perfect 10.0 on the balance beam, the second perfect score of her career
- Alabama has now scored a 10.0 in two consecutive meets, with Makarri Doggette earning the score last week at Kentucky on the uneven bars
Blanco matched her career-best on balance beam (10.000), floor exercise (9.975) and the vault (9.950)
- The senior earned a 10.0 from at least one judge on all three routines, with all three scores tying her previous career high
Lilly Hudson posted back-to-back 9.975s on the balance beam and floor exercise to close out her 39.575 in the all-around, setting a new career high on both events
In the Tide's 49.700 floor rotation to close out the meet, tying the program record on the event, Alabama earned five scores of 9.900-or-higher
The Crimson Tide posted 11 scores of 9.900-or-higher in the meet, with Blanco (9.950) on the vault, Cam Machado (9.925) and Doggette (9.950) on the uneven bars, Ella Burgess (9.925), Hudson (9.975) and Blanco (10.000) on the balance beam, and Waligora (9.925), Adams (9.900), Gladieux (9.925), Hudson (9.975) and Blanco (9.975) on the floor exercise

Up Next

After Saturday's meet, Alabama will compete on the road for a second straight week when it travels to Athens, Ga., for a SEC matchup against the Bulldogs
The meet will get underway at 6 p.m. CT and will be broadcast live on SEC Network

For all the latest information on Alabama gymnastics, follow BamaGymnastics on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

– UA –