What Team 49 Means to Alabama Gymnastics Seniors

One last win in Coleman Coliseum for the seniors as the Crimson Tide closed the regular season against Boise State.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— The Alabama Crimson Tide was able to have a successful final win in Coleman Coliseum against Boise State to close the gymnastcis regular season on Saturday night. Alabama scored a 197.125 and the Broncos were a distant 194.775 for the all-around team score.

While winning was nice for the team, the seniors were able to take away much more than the win from all the years they have been representing Alabama.

Senior Makarri Doggette was overwhelmed with the amount of love and support she has gotten throughout the years.

"I couldn't have asked for a better senior night, you know, just the love and support that we get from everybody every single time, it's just unmatched," Doggette said. "I just love my girls and I love everybody that comes and supports us. Looking up there is a feeling that we'll probably never get again."

Freshman Gabby Gladieux agreed with Doggette about how much the support means to the team. 

The fans, coaches, gymnasts and overall energy throughout Coleman Coliseum made each gymnast feel supported and feel like the work they have put in has paid off. Even the YMCA dance and song builds the energy and support going into the last rotation. 

Gladieux says she feels blessed to have that kind of support from everyone, but especially Doggette. They met several years ago at a competition and being reunited on the same team as her and all of the other seniors has meant a lot to her.

"I look up to each and every one of them and they bring out the best in me day in and day out and I am just so blessed as a freshman to have six amazing seniors," Gladieux said. 

With Gladieux being a freshman, she really admires the seniors and said they bring out the best in her. It reminded Doggette of when she was a freshman. She would look up to the seniors so much, and for her to realize that she is in their shoes now made her emotional.

In fact, all of the gymnasts were very emotional. The bond that Team 49 has is very strong and just like a sisterhood. Handling emotions in such a fragile space in time can be hard, especially when performing highly advanced gymnastics skills in front of a large audience.

Doggette said that managing her emotions has been tough as she has cried a lot today, but she had to remind herself of what she's competing for. 

"It's competing for a bigger purpose and going out there one last time and putting your heart and soul into it," Doggette said. I definitely shed a tear probably after every event, but I held it together pretty much until the end."

The pressure for the seniors to do their best was most definitely on tonight because each girl wanted to finish strong. Sometimes those layers of pressure can add up and affect a routine and that was shown a little bit tonight.

On beam, there was a fall and almost every gymnast had a bobble here or there. Head coach Ashley Johnston said that wanting to end on a good note added lots of pressure to the seniors, but fortunately, some underclassmen were able to step in when needed.

"Moving forward, we're going to go back to the process and just do the little things throughout practice to make sure we're approaching everything really calmly and confidently moving into SEC's," Johnston said. "We're not done yet."

Johnston believes that Team 49 is special, especially because of the journey. With six new freshmen and six seniors along with Johnston becoming the new head coach, there were lots of experiences that have made the team what it became.

While it was a very emotional night, Team 49 and the seniors will mainly take away the lessons they've learned at each meet, the sisterhood and investment from their support system.

It's easy to get burnt out in the sport of gymnastics as it can become someone's identity, but Johnston has instilled in the seniors and Team 49 all about how gymnastics can set them up for success.

"Gymnastics is not who you are, it's just what you do," Johnston said. "Being able to separate the two and really understand who you are and what drives you and what's unique about you separate from the sport, I think is really what helps our athletes move forward and be confident about how they approach their gymnastics, but also how they approach life." 

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