Alabama Gymnastics Putting the Pieces Together for NCAA Championships
It all comes down to this.
For some, like fifth-year Lexi Graber, this is the final chapter in a legendary career. But for the entire Alabama gymnastics team, Thursday's NCAA semifinal meet is what they work for all season: the opportunity to still be competing on the last night of the year.
"I'm just really excited to go back out there one last time with this group of girls," Graber said. "They're a really special group of women and we've worked really hard for this. And our goal is to get to that second night, but I'm proud of this team regardless, so I'm really just looking forward to one more round with my girls."
Graber is Alabama's most experienced gymnast and the 2021 NCAA individual champion on the floor exercise, but even she has not gotten to compete on that second night since the format changed in 2019 from the Super Six to just a final four teams vying for the championship in the final meet.
Across college gymnastics this year, there have been extremely high scores, and even though the Crimson Tide has proved it is capable of also posting those type scores, head coach Dana Duckworth has consistently said that it will all equal out at NCAAs when every team is on the same competition floor, being scored by the same judges.
Even when posting a season best 198.175 at the regional finals in Seattle to advance to the championships, Duckworth said there was still more in the tank for this team.
And a big piece of potentially boosting that score is the addition of all-American and 2021 NCAA individual balance beam champion Luisa Blanco back into more lineups. After landing awkwardly on her ankle dismounting the beam at the SEC Championship meet, Blanco only competed on uneven bars at regionals. However, the Crimson Tide is hoping to have her back for beam and vault in Fort Worth.
"I think there’s a potential, and again I don’t want to over-promise, possibly on three events without floor," Duckworth said about Blanco. "She's been very diligent to her process of rehab and treatments and taking care of her body as best she possibly can with the hopes that we’ll have more events than bars."
On Monday, Duckworth said they would be taking it one day at a time with the injury and would see how practice went on podium once in Texas. Duckworth posted a video on her Instagram Wednesday afternoon of Blanco practicing on the beam.
Dana Duckworth Instagram
Injuries and adversity are nothing new for this Alabama team. Graber calls it the most mentally tough team she's been on in her five years. Duckworth said the grit and tenacity of Team 48 has amazed her. She has had to plug and play in different parts of the lineup all year whether its from illness and injury, including in the Seattle regional, and yet Alabama was able to post its highest overall team score.
"Our team has really built depth this year, so being able to pull anybody and bring them into a lineup is super awesome," Alabama gymnast Ella Burgess said. "It just goes to show that anybody can be put in, and we can still be a No. 1 team.”
The Crimson Tide will be facing the actual No. 1 team in Thursday's semifinal session at noon on ESPN2 in Dickey's Arena in Fort Worth. Alabama's noon sessions features No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 4 Utah and No. 8 Minnesota while the evening session has No. 2 Florida, No. 3 Michigan, No. 7 Auburn and No. 11 Missouri. The top two scores from each session will advance to the national championship meet Saturday at noon.
While Oklahoma and Florida have consistently been putting up high scores all season, every other team in Fort Worth has shown they are capable of doing that as well.
To reach the finals, Duckworth has to put the lineups together one last time that can optimize the best score for Alabama, and she feels like her team is peaking at the right time for the Crimson Tide to have a shot at winning its first national title since 2012.
"This team has been evolving and growing and getting better and on the right path," Duckworth said. "And week after week, you’ve seen advantages and success in different areas So what that means to me is the puzzle pieces are all coming together. And the goal when you get to the championship is to be the most consistent on that very night."
Alabama Athletics
Alabama Athletics
Alabama Athletics
