2024 Season Begins for No. 8 Alabama Gymnastics at Mean Girls Super 16 Gymnastics Championships
1/5/2024 11:48:00 AM | Gymnastics
The Crimson Tide will compete in the final session on Saturday night against No. 5 UCLA, No. 7 Cal and No. 17 Auburn
LAS VEGAS – The No. 8 Alabama gymnastics team will open its season in a quad session at the Mean Girls Super 16 Gymnastics Championships against No. 5 UCLA, No. 7 Cal and No. 17 Auburn Saturday night at 8 p.m. CT at the Orleans Arena. The meet will be streamed live on the Super 16 YouTube page.
The meet's fourth session features four teams who finished in the top five of their respective conference championships in 2023, with Alabama (Southeastern Conference) and UCLA (Pac-12) placing second, Cal (Pac-12) taking third and Auburn (SEC) coming in fifth. Saturday's competition will be Alabama's only regular-season meeting against UCLA and Cal, and the first of two regular-season meetings with Auburn (Feb. 9 | 8 p.m. | Auburn, Ala. | SEC Network).
This year's Crimson Tide squad consists of 18 gymnasts, made up of 14 returners in addition to the four newcomers. Alabama's veterans will be led by four super seniors in Luisa Blanco, Ella Burgess, Makarri Doggette and Mati Waligora, as well as senior trio Shania Adams, Cameron Machado and Isabella Martin.
Head Coach Ashley Johnston Said
"We cannot wait to finally be competing. We've had a great preseason, working and growing together as a team, but this is where all the hard work and excitement pays off. This group is eager to get started in Las Vegas, and this is a great opportunity for us to go out and immediately see where we're at against some of the top teams in the country. We have a great team with us this season, led by a veteran group of upperclassmen, who can't wait to go out and represent the Script A for another year, and a group of freshmen who are eager to begin their collegiate careers."
Saturday's Meet
- The No. 8 Alabama gymnastics team is led by Ashley Johnston, in her second season as UA's head coach
- The Crimson Tide finished second at the 2023 SEC Championships – a feat that means that Alabama is still the only team in conference history that has never finished outside of the top four at the SEC Championships
- The Tigers, meanwhile, finished fifth at the SEC Championships, with the Bruins and Golden Bears finishing second and third, respectively, at the 2023 Pac-12 Championships
- There are 18 gymnasts on the 2024 Crimson Tide roster, including three freshmen, five sophomores, three juniors, three seniors and four super seniors
- Entering the 2024 season, Alabama returns 23 of its 24 routines from the 2023 NCAA Norman Regional Final
- The Crimson Tide's lineup returns three All-Americans – Luisa Blanco, Makarri Doggette and Lilly Hudson
- Entering 2024, UA is 65-13-1 in season openers since 1979, a tally that takes several multi-team meets into account, including an eight-year run (2000-07) of starting things off with the Super 6 Challenge
- Last season, Alabama opened at home against Michigan State, taking a 196.975-196.550 win in the contest
Up Next
- After Saturday's meet at the Super 16, Alabama will open its home season at Coleman Coliseum against the No. 12 Missouri Tigers on Friday, Jan. 12 at 6 p.m. CT
- The meet will be broadcast live on SEC Network
- It will be the Crimson Tide's first Southeastern Conference dual meet of the season as UA faces its second SEC opponent of the year (Auburn, Super 16 quad)
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Players Mentioned
