Alabama Gymnastics Scores Season High, but Falls to Reigning National Champion LSU
TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— The No. 14 Alabama gymnastics team approached the week leading up to its matchup opposite No. 3 LSU with the mindset of taking what it has learned through the first stretch of the season and applying those lessons on Friday night.
That endeavor proved to be successful even in defeat, as Alabama did a lot of good things against the backdrop of facing one of the country’s elite teams. LSU (6-2) triumphed 197.300-197.075. It was Alabama’s highest score this season, beating out the 197.025 score against North Carolina in the season opener on Jan. 10.
“We’ve been training really hard, with a lot of intensity over the last couple of weeks, to start being more comfortable in uncomfortable situations,” head coach Ashley Johnston said. “It felt like tonight, no matter what the opportunity was, everybody was ready to step in and deliver big performances and build on that momentum. That was a great step in the right direction for us… We earned [the 197]. We delivered that level of performance.”
In the meet itself, things started off with the defending national champions scoring two 9.900s on the uneven bars. Despite Alabama’s Corinne Bunagan firing up the home crowd with a 9.925 on vault (tying her career high), the Crimson Tide (1-4) trailed by a tenth through one rotation. LSU’s routines on bars featured a number of difficult skills, but Bunagan’s performance in her first of two events on the evening helped ensure the home team was well and truly in the fight early.
Alabama’s turn on the bars brought energy along with the pair of 9.900s accomplished by senior Lilly Hudson and sophomore Chloe LaCoursiere in succession. Those scores were not enough to keep LSU from widening its lead; at the halfway mark, the visitors held a 98.725-98.450 advantage. With the Crimson Tide not having put together a team score of 197 or greater since the opener entering Friday, the pressure was on.
Hudson scored a 9.900 on the balance beam. Together with Gladieux’s 9.875 to close out the rotation, there were strong numbers, but it was going to take a comeback for Alabama. The difference was that in every event, LSU had more than one 9.9-plus score. The Crimson Tide had more such scores than in its previous home meet against top-ranked Oklahoma on Jan. 24, but no events with multiple 9.9s through the first three rotations. That changed on the fourth.
“We’re really just taking each week and learning lessons the best we can,” Hudson said. “I’m honestly just so proud to see everybody take what they’ve learned and grow from [it].” Junior Rachel Rybicki agreed.
“We are fighting for everything that we’re doing in the gym to make it show up when we compete,” Rybicki said. “We’ve really been focusing in on that in the gym.”
The judging was not a crowd favorite, and rarely was that more clear than when Jamison Sears led off on floor to the tune of a 9.875. Alabama continued the event with consistency. When it came time for Hudson’s iconic floor routine, the Crimson Tide had whittled the deficit down some, a cause she helped with her third 9.9 of the night. Gladieux followed her as the final competitor and got one of the loudest crowd pops of the night. Once the final scores were tallied, Gladieux had earned a 9.975. That wasn’t enough for her team to win, but Alabama did score its first 197 as a team in SEC competition.
“That routine is so stunning,” Johnston said. “I truly believe it’s one of the best in the country, and I was excited to see her really get rewarded for that work.” Hudson and Rybicki spoke on the importance of the momentum created by routines like that; Hudson said the meet was up there among her favorites from the atmosphere standpoint.
Gladieux’s performance on floor was good for the event title, which went along with Alabama’s higher score in the floor exercise. Hudson and LaCoursiere tied with LSU’s Ashley Cowan and Konnor McClain for the top spot on the bars. Bunagan tied for the second-highest vault score by an individual, with LSU star Haleigh Bryant. Hudson’s 9.900 on beam checked in as a tie for her season high; meanwhile, that was LSU’s toughest rotation of the contest.
“We’ve been working… [on] finding ways to increase your average,” Johnston said. “We train the way that we wanna compete, and ultimately we compete the way we train. It goes both ways. I think tonight was a great reflection of that work paying off, and at the same time it was information of what we still need to get after in the gym.”
