Alabama gymnastics cracked 197 over the weekend for the first time this season, hitting the scoring mark exactly to defeat Arkansas. Now, the Crimson Tide is ranked No. 9 in the country with an overall average of 196.355 through five meets. It moved up one spot.
“What’s great is we went 197 with so much left on the table,” UA coach Dana Duckworth said. “I feel like we took some really great steps, but the potential of this team is incredible. The competition across the nation is incredible. So you have to continue to strive for more.”
At the top, Oklahoma has a padded lead with a 197.813 average, followed by Utah (197.335) and LSU (197.29) in order. UCLA and Florida round out the top five with averages of 197.265 and 196.98, respectively.
The Crimson Tide still has only one event ranked within the top 10, but two more are creeping their way up. Alabama is ranked sixth on the uneven bars, averaging a 49.23. Its balance beam and floor exercise are just outside the bubble at 11th. Vault is further down at 24th.
Individually, senior Kiana Winston is tied for ninth on bars with a 9.895 average. Her high score so far this season is a 9.925. She is the only UA gymnast with a top-10 rank.
After back-to-back weeks at home, Alabama hits the road this Friday to visit Florida.
Injury update
Sophomore Shea Mahoney hurt her ankle while warming up before the Missouri meet two weeks ago. She did not return to competition that night or this past weekend. Duckworth is unsure if Mahoney will be good to go for Florida. They are taking it day by day.
“We still don’t know,” Duckworth said Monday. “She ran and did some layouts on vault, and so I’ll see how she’s doing.”
