2025 Alabama Gymnastics Season Preview

The Crimson Tide will open Ashley Johnston's third season on Friday night against North Carolina.

Jan 19, 2024; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama gymnast Lilly Hudson enjoys the crowd between routines in Coleman Coliseum / Gary Cosby Jr.-Tuscaloosa News / USA TODAY NETWORK

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— For the last five seasons, the Alabama gymnastics lineups have featured prominent names like Luisa Blanco and Makarri Doggette. They became fan favorites and Crimson Tide legends, wowing Coleman Coliseum crowds with perfect 10.0 performances and winning SEC championships.

But for the first time in half a decade, they won't be on the mat to compete for Alabama when the Crimson Tide opens the season against North Carolina inside Coleman Coliseum on Friday night.

"It’s so hard to think about replacing some of those household names," Alabama head coach Ashley Johnston said before the season. "Luisa Blanco, Makarri Doggettee and Ella Burgess— they have been fan favorites. They have been incredible impact players for our program… But really instead of replacing, we look at how do we move Alabama to the next place? I don’t think there’s ever an even replacement. Each athlete is so unique in their strengths and what they bring to the table. We truly believe in our freshman class, and in our returners who are actually making their debuts for the first time."

Now entering her third season as the head coach at her alma mater, Johnston said she expects the lineups on each of the four rotations (vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise) to have three to four new routines of the six spots compared to the lineups from last season,

"That’s like 50 to 60 percent new in each lineup," Johnston said. "So to me, while there’s absolutely some uncertainty involved in that when you don’t fully know, there’s a lot of excitement around that. We believe in the work our group has done. They have worked harder than I have ever seen a team step up and work during a preseason, and so they’re ready. And they’re excited and they’re a really competitive group.”

Schedule

Alabama once again has a daunting schedule. The Crimson Tide will face all of the top-four teams from the preseason coaches poll in the regular season and 10 of the top-15 teams overall, including Oklahoma's first year in the SEC.

"Our conference is so competitive and bringing Oklahoma absolutely just made it that much more challenging," Johnston said. "But really, we look at that as our greatest opportunity. This team is going to be prepared to handle anything. They’re going to see it all as we navigate each week of season. They’re going to see competitiveness. They’re going to see being ahead in a meet. They’re going to see being behind in a meet. They’re going to see clutch moments. They’re truly going to have the experience they need to be able to handle a difficult and long postseason. So I’m thankful for the tough schedule, and I think ultimately that prepares us to be our best in the final moments of the season when it matters most."

The Crimson Tide opens the schedule at home against UNC on Friday night before four straight SEC meets at Kentucky, against Oklahoma, at Georgia and versus defending national champion LSU. Alabama will then have a quad meet in Missouri before three more SEC meets and then Elevate the Stage in Huntsville. The team will close out the regular season at Michigan. The full schedule can be seen here.

Roster

The 2025 roster of 18 gymnasts features 12 returners and six true freshmen (Love Birt, Brooke Dennis, Ryan Fuller, Kylee Kvamme, Faye Rodio and Paityn Walker.) However, one of those freshmen, Birt, will miss the entire season with an injury.

Alabama's most seasoned returners are senior Lilly Hudson and graduate Shania Adams. Hudson has consistently competed in the all around for the Crimson Tide since her freshman season while Adams also has experience on all four events over the last four seasons at Alabama. Hudson is the only returning gymnast with a perfect 10.0 on her resumé, which she scored on vault at Florida last season and on beam against LSU in 2023.

Cameron Machado is also back for a fifth season with the Crimson Tide and has been a steady presence in the bars and floor lineups, but she will miss at least the first meet with an injury. Corinne Bunagan and Jordyn Paradise are the other two seniors on the roster. Bunagan did not compete a scored routine in a meet in her first two seasons at Alabama, but started to appear in the vault lineup in the latter half of last season. Paradise missed all of last season with an injury, but Johnston said she is, "mentally, physically and emotionally truly prepared and ready" to be back out there competing with her team.

Gabby Gladieux, the 2023 SEC vault champion, is now in her junior season for Alabama. She has been an impact gymnast since her freshman year and saw an increased role in 2024, appearing in the all around five times. Karis German, Natalia Pawlak and Rachel Rybicki round out the junior class. All three gymnasts have made spot appearances in lineups and could see an increased role in 2025.

Chloe LaCoursiere and Jamison Sears highlight the sophomore class. Last season as true freshmen, both gymnasts made an immediate impact for the Crimson Tide. LaCoursiere appeared on bars and vault 15 times, while Sears worked mainly on vault and floor. Gabby Ladanyi also returns in the sophomore class. Ladanyi did not compete in a meet for the Crimson Tide last season.

Outlook

Alabama was ranked No. 6 by the coaches in the preseason poll. (The Crimson Tide is currently technically unranked only because it did not compete last week when some collegiate programs did; therefore, there was no score to record for Alabama.)

Expectations are always high at a program that has won six national championships and 10 SEC titles. But Johnston's philosophy is all about "playing" gymnastics and progress over perfection. In Year 3, her first commits that she recruited as head coach are now on campus, and she can now better implement her culture and style.

Alabama is replacing some legendary talent, but brings back a lot of gymnasts with high-scoring capabilities like Hudson, Gladieux, LaCoursiere, Sears, Adams and Machado alongside a talented freshman class. The schedule is challenging as always, but the goal is to always be performing the best gymnastics when it matters at the end of the season.

Friday night

Alabama is set to host North Carolina inside Coleman Coliseum on Friday at 7 p.m. (weather permitting) on SEC Network+. Crimson Tide assistant coach Amelia Hundley coached at UNC before joining Johnston's staff at Alabama.

Over and over during her press conference leading up to the meet, Johnston emphasized the message for her team this week is "start strong." And she doesn't literally mean to just start strong on vault, which will be Alabama's first event on Friday night, but to start strong in everything her team does.

"Overall, we’re really looking forward to starting off the season against UNC," Johnston said. "They’re a strong team… We think it’s going to be a great opponent for us to challenge ourselves to really start off the season with."