Strong Finish on Beam Lifts Alabama Gymnastics to Highest Road Score of Season

LSU's first 198 of the season was enough to beat the Crimson Tide, but near perfect routines from Luisa Blanco and Lexi Graber gave Alabama its best road performance this year.

When competing on the road in collegiate gymnastics, a team has to close out the night on the most nerve-wracking event: the balance beam. 

After having a gymnast fall on each of the previous three events, Alabama headed to its final rotation at beam well out of reach of catching the host team LSU, but with the potential to post a season high score on the road if it could make it through beam without having to count a fall. 

Not only did the Crimson Tide not have a fall on beam, the beam lineup put up six straight routines of 9.9 or better capped by a 9.975 from junior Luisa Blanco. That means at least one judge gave her a 10. Alabama totaled a 49.625 on beam to push the Crimson Tide to a 197.600 overall, which was indeed its highest road score of the season. 

The Tigers put together an outstanding meet at home as well, and won 198.050-197.600 inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center Friday night. Overall though, Alabama head coach Dana Duckworth will be pleased with her team's performance. 

"We didn’t get the win but there were some really outstanding performances from Shallon [Olsen], Lilly [Hudson], Luisa [Blanco] and Lexi [Graber] and the entire balance beam team," Duckworth said in a press release. "I appreciated how this team went to the last event, on the road and dominated. Everything that is happening this season is part of who this team is becoming, and I believe in this team and I know that its best gymnastics are still to come."

Alabama has yet to receive a perfect 10 on the season, but Blanco wasn't the only Crimson Tide gymnast to get a 10 from at least one judge. On vault, Lexi Graber stuck the landing on her Yurchenko 1.5 and also scored a 9.975. (In regular season collegiate gymnastics meets, each routine is scored by two different judges, and the scores are averaged to get the final score for the routine.) LSU's Kiya Johnson did score a 10 on beam Friday night. 

Graber's vault was the highlight of a solid vault lineup that scored a 49.450, the second highest vault total of the season. For the fourth straight meet, Shallon Olsen led off the rotation with a difficult Yurchenko double that earned a 9.9 from the judges. 

The Crimson Tide's two weakest events of the night were uneven bars and floor exercise. Alabama couldn't quite find the landings it normally does on bars and also had a couple mishaps on landings on floor. 

Freshman Lilly Hudson competed in the all-around for the second time this season and scored a career high 39.550 including a 9.9 on floor and a 9.925 on beam. 

Alabama returns home to face Missouri next Friday at 5 p.m.

"The bounce back after a mistake and keeping our focus and energy high regardless of circumstance was a team goal and that is part of how we measured our success tonight," Duckworth said. "They handled those moments like champions, but as we move forward, we have to realize that hitting 24-for-24 is crucial."