Shea Mahoney’s feet planted on the mat and did not move after her uneven bars dismount. Cheers erupted.
Consider her landing stuck.
With a smile plastered on her face, the Alabama sophomore gymnast left the competition floor, high-fived her teammates and hugged her coach.
“I told you you could do that,” Dana Duckworth said.
And she did, so much so Mahoney received a 10 from one of the judges. The other gave her a 9.95, which is why she finished with a career-high 9.975.
“It’s like a little girl’s dream come true, honestly,” Mahoney said. “You dream of getting a 10 your whole life. I’ve seen teammates do it, and I honestly wasn’t expecting it just because when I finished I didn’t totally know how good it was.”
No other UA gymnast has scored that high this season.
Mahoney’s bar routine was truly the highlight of No. 7 Alabama’s 196.925-196.375 victory over No. 9 Kentucky on Friday night in Coleman Coliseum. It, along with three other 9.9-plus scores, contributed to the Crimson Tide’s season-high 49.55 on bars, going down as the sixth-best mark in program history.
“Bars was lit,” Duckworth said. “Right, ladies? It was lit.”
Then, the fire – sparked on vault with a season-high 49.3 – went out.
On balance beam, Alabama had to account for two scores in the 9.6 range from sophomore Maddie Desch and freshman Lexi Graber. The score that dropped was junior Abby Armbrecht’s 9.3 that featured a mid-routine fall.
The Crimson Tide posted a 48.85 on the event, its third-lowest score of the season.
“That’s not who we are as a beam team,” Alabama senior Nickie Guerrero said.
Last in the lineup, Guerrero actually scored a 9.9 on beam. She also put up the same score in the same position on vault and floor exercise.
“My team is just my rock,” Guerrero said. “People say I’m their rock, but really they’re my rock. I just need to repay them with a good, consistent and solid anchor routine, so that’s what I do.”
Guerrero closed out the show and finalized Alabama’s 49.225 floor score, its second-highest post this season.
Speaking of floor, Graber made her debut on the apparatus. She earned a 9.825, capping off her 39.125 all-around performance. Graber also had a career-high 9.9 on vault, a 9.75 on bars and a 9.65 on beam.
Senior Kiana Winston also went all-around for the second time this season. Her 39.3 broke down into a 9.9 on bars, 9.875 on beam, 9.775 on vault and a 9.75 on floor.
The only other Alabama gymnast who has gone all-around is sophomore Wynter Childers, but she did not compete against Kentucky.
“A lot of people are going to be happy because we got the win,” Duckworth said. “Of course we’re delighted because a ‘W’ is always nice, but we know we can do better. We know we left some stuff on the table, and that’s the frustrating part.”
ALABAMA SCORES
Vault
Shea Mahoney, 9.825
Abby Armbrecht, 9.825
Ari Guerra, 9.8
Kiana Winston, 9.775
Lexi Graber, 9.9
Nickie Guerrero, 9.9
Uneven bars
Ari Guerra, 9.85
Lexi Graber, 9.75
Shea Mahoney, 9.975
Kylie Dickson, 9.9
Kiana Winston, 9.9
Mackenzie Brannan, 9.925
Balance beam
Maddie Desch, 9.6
Abby Armbrecht, 9.3
Peyton Ernst, 9.825
Lexi Graber, 9.65
Kiana Winston, 9.875
Nickie Guerrero, 9.9
Floor exercise
Ari Guerra, 9.675
Lexi Graber, 9.825
Abby Armbrecht, 9.875
Maddie Desch, 9.875
Kiana Winston, 9.75
Nickie Guerrero, 9.9
