Alabama
NCAA Championships - Semifinals
No. 8 Alabama Closes Season in NCAA Championships Semifinals
4/18/2024 11:57:00 PM | Gymnastics
The Crimson Tide’s Luisa Blanco, Chloe LaCoursiere and Lilly Hudson earned All-America recognition
FORT WORTH, Texas – The Alabama gymnastics team closed its season Thursday in the NCAA Championships Semifinals at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. The final night was highlighted by three gymnasts earning All-America recognition as Lilly Hudson received first-team honors in the all-around and second-team recognition on vault, while Luisa Blanco, Chloe LaCoursiere each picked up second-team honors on the uneven bars.
Alabama has now posted 38 top-eight finishes since NCAA competition began in 1982, while also making 39 appearances as a team at the final site.
The Crimson Tide scored a 195.4125 in the second semifinal session, while the top-seeded Oklahoma Sooners registered a 196.6625. The Florida Gators (197.8750) and the Utah Utes (197.9375) finished as the top-two seeds from the night session to advance to Saturday's championship final.
Head Coach Ashley Johnston Said
"Tonight didn't go quite the way we wanted it to go. The team was really excited coming in; I felt like we had a great mentality and we started really strong on bars, going after handstands and really nailing landings. That was a huge momentum-builder to be able to start with such a great bar lineup and was a really good way to start the meet. [We] went into beam and started strong with Lilly knocking it out of the park with a 9.900 and then after that, we really lost momentum. Once you dig yourself in a hole, it's hard to recover and battle that expectation and pressure and, unfortunately, we just lost that battle. I'm really proud of how our team recovered and fought. This team showed a ton of resiliency, team camaraderie and connection as they went to floor – they had a choice to make, they could either let a really rough rotation ruin the rest of the meet or they could choose to fight and to dig in and to give it their absolute all. I'm so proud of how they recovered, of how they turned and finished the night knowing that they did everything they could to give themselves the best shot. We've had an incredible season and tonight does not define what we've done this year. Unfortunately, it just didn't go our way tonight and sometimes that happens. I'm excited about the group that we have here, the culture they built and how we're going to move forward."
Alabama in the NCAA Gymnastics Semifinals
- Alabama posted its 38th top-eight finish since NCAA competition began in 1982
- In its opening event, the Crimson Tide turned in a 49.4875 on the uneven bars, in the second semifinal session, led by a trio of 9.9-or-higher scores from freshman Chloe LaCoursiere (9.9125), junior Lilly Hudson (9.900) and super senior Luisa Blanco (9.9375)
- Hudson's fourth-place finish of 39.5750 in the second session secured her first-team All-America status in the all-around, her second-career All-America honor and her first since the 2022 season – also in the all-around
- Hudson would also earn second-team recognition on vault behind an eighth-place finish via a score of 9.8875
- LaCoursiere's eighth 9.9-or-higher score on the uneven bars, in her debut season as a collegiate gymnast, secured her second-team All-America honors, the first of her career, as the freshman finished tied for 12th overall and tied for seventh within the second session
- Blanco's sixth-consecutive 9.9+ mark of the season, en route to a fifth-place finish on the uneven bars, awarded her second-team All-America status, her eighth championship All-America honor and the 21st All-America accolade, in total, of her legendary career as an Alabama gymnast
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Players Mentioned
