Alabama
Auburn
No. 7 Alabama Comes up Short at No. 14 Auburn, 197.725-197.050
2/9/2024 11:55:00 PM | Gymnastics
Freshman Chloe LaCoursiere highlighted the night with a career-high 9.950 on vault to propel the Crimson Tide to a season-high rotation score of 49.450
AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 7 Alabama gymnastics program (5-2-1, 2-2-1 SEC) came up short against the No. 14 Auburn Tigers (5-5, 1-3 SEC) Friday night via a 197.725-197.050 score. Despite the loss, the Crimson Tide recorded its highest rotation score of the season on vault (49.400), highlighted by a career-high 9.950 score from freshman Chloe LaCoursiere.
Alabama opened the meet on the uneven bars, featuring an event-title-winning and season-high-tying 9.925 performance from senior Cameron Machado, as sophomore Gabby Gladieux made her season debut in the event. On its second rotation, the Tide rolled its way through vault as four UA gymnasts posted 9.875 scores-or-higher, highlighted by a pair of 9.95s from LaCoursiere and Luisa Blanco as the duo earned a share of the event title.
Junior Lilly Hudson picked up a 9.925 on the floor exercise to highlight Alabama's third rotation of the night, earning a share of the event title. Mati Waligora (9.875) and Ella Burgess (9.875) either set or tied their season-high score, respectively, before Blanco capped the night with a podium-finish score of 9.925 on the balance beam.
For the first time this season, and the first time of her career, Gabby Gladieux competed in the all-around (39.175). Also competing in the all-around was Blanco who recorded a 39.550. The rivalry meet was the sixth contest this season that UA faced a top-15 opponent as eight gymnasts either tied or set a new season-high score.
Head Coach Ashley Johnston Said
"Tonight, there were some really good breakthrough moments, but we could never quite catch momentum in the way that we wanted to. Our vault rotation was a great breakthrough for us – we really needed to make some of those changes and improvements, so I was really happy to see that. I think overall, we just gave away too many things. We say that we want to be so prepared that we can walk into any arena knowing that it's ours to defend as long as we just do our job, and tonight, we just gave away too many things. Even with giving those mistakes away (on bars), we were pretty close going into the halfway point. We kept trying to build momentum on floor, and couldn't quite break through the way that we needed to. We're going to use this experience to grow and figure out the tweaks we need to make for next week."
Inside the Score Sheet
- Alabama posted its highest rotation score of the season on vault (49.450)
- Chloe LaCoursiere scored a career-high 9.950 on vault
- Gabby Gladieux competed in the all-around for the first time in her career (39.175)
- Four gymnasts earned six podium finishes, as Luisa Blanco (vault – 9.950), Lilly Hudson (floor – 9.925), Chloe LaCoursiere (vault – 9.950) and Cameron Machado (uneven bars – 9.925) each claimed at least a share of the event title
- Eight gymnasts either tied or set new season-high marks
Up Next
- Alabama will travel to Denton, Texas, to compete in a quad meet hosted by Texas Women's University on Monday, Feb. 19, 2024
- Joining Alabama and TWU is conference foe No. 13 Arkansas and No. 17 Arizona
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Players Mentioned
