Alabama Gymnastics Healthy Heading Into Postseason

Ashley Johnston expects to have the full roster available as the team competes at the SEC Championship meet this Saturday night.

Gary Cosby Jr.-The Tuscaloosa News-USA TODAY NETWORK

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Since hitting the 198-mark back on Feb. 11, Alabama gymnastics hasn't been able to reach that threshold again. Two weeks later at home against LSU it got close with a 197.925, but in the two weeks since than, the Crimson Tide has had two scores 197.125 or below. 

Now, for the first time since the Metroplex Challenge in mid-February, Alabama will be back in quad meet, but this one has even bigger implications. It is the 2023 SEC Championship. 

Head coach Ashley Johnston isn't discouraged about where her team is at. In fact, despite lower quality performances the last two meets, she feels like gymnasts are in a spot to be at their best for postseason. 

"One of our focuses and goals for this entire season has been to manage it well so that we can peak at the right time," Johnston said. "The last two weeks haven't gone exactly the way we wanted them to go for a variety of reasons. But one of the biggest wins in my book is that we are healthy, and we have a full team that is ready to go this weekend."

Johnston said the team did not approach the last two meets, a loss at Missouri (196.750) and a Senior Night home win over Boise State (197.125), with the type of championship mentality that it needed to have. But that all changed this week. From the moment the athletes stepped into the gym Monday for practice, she said they have been dialed in. 

This weekend will be the first time Johnston has taken a team to SECs as a head coach. Alabama last won the SEC title in 2021 when the current seniors like Luisa Blanco and Makarri Doggette were sophomores. That year, Blanco clinched the meet on beam. This year, Alabama will start on the balance beam before moving to floor exercise, vault and finishing on the uneven bars. 

Alabama is in the evening session at 7 p.m. with Florida, LSU and Kentucky. Auburn, Arkansas, Missouri and Georgia will compete in the afternoon session at 2:30 p.m. The highest overall score from the two sessions will win the SEC title. 

The Crimson Tide is the lowest-seeded team in the evening session, which is why it will be starting on beam. Some might view it as a negative or punishment, but Johnson thinks it will actually be a good fit for her team, especially when it comes to one of her goals of starting strong. 

"That's been one of our focuses these past couple of weeks and finally were able to start strong last week," she said. "But I think starting on beam will really be a better fit for us in approaching that with a start strong mentality.”

Alabama is ranked No. 8 in the country on beam. Sophomore Lilly Hudson has been a consistent part of the beam lineup all season and said the team is ready to start out on beam. Overall, the team is excited to kick off postseason. 

"Postseason is the best part, it’s the sweet spot," Hudson said. "It's what we've worked for all year. So I'm just excited to go make memories with this team and to show off what this team is made of."

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