GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 8 Alabama gymnastics team posted its best road score since the 2017 season Friday night in a 198.050-197.450 loss at No. 2 Florida Friday night in Gainesville, Fla.
It was also the Crimson Tide’s second-highest score of the season, following a 197.550 mark against Missouri two weeks ago.
After going 9.800 on the uneven bars to start the meet, junior Lexi Graber caught fire on the vault, posting a career-best 9.975, followed by 9.925s on the floor exercise and balance beam to tally a 39.625, the second-best all-around total of her career.
Freshman Makarri Doggette matched her career-best score on the uneven bars with a 9.950, while junior Alonza Klopfer posted a career-best 9.900 to lead off Alabama’s balance beam rotation.
“There were so many elements to be proud of throughout tonight’s road meet,” Alabama coach Dana Duckworth said. “Kylie did a beautiful job starting us off on bars, and I thought we just continued to fight from that point on. I’m proud of Lexi for coming back after bars and taking it one event at a time. That vault was beautiful and her floor and beam were great. We made so many big steps, but we left so many different little tenths out there on every event. We’ve got to continue to fight for all those little details, because those are the details that are going to give us an opportunity to score a 198. We are continuing to do all of the things we can to become a stronger, more consistent team. We continue to grow and continue to get better and we have more in the tank and I’m excited about that.”
Alabama opened the meet on the uneven bars with a 49.350, with junior Kylie Dickson starting things off with a 9.875 and Doggette closing the rotation with a 9.950.
On the vault, the Tide posted its third-consecutive team score of 49.3+, going 49.325 behind Graber’s 9.975.
Alabama posted another strong floor exercise score, going 49.425 behind 9.925s from Graber and senior Shea Mahoney.
A 9.900 from Klopfer and a 9.925 from Graber bookended a 49.350 team score on the balance beam.
