No. 4 Alabama gymnastics bounds past third-ranked Mizzou to open SEC slate
The Alabama gymnastics team opened the SEC season with a win over Missouri on Friday night at Coleman Coliseum, winning 197.225-196.475.
The No. 4-ranked Crimson Tide took an early 49.125-48.95 lead with a strong vault rotation, then pushed the lead further with another excellent performance on the uneven bars. No. 3 Missouri closed the gap with a 49.35 for its floor turn while Alabama faltered slightly on balance beam with a 49.05, but the Crimson Tide's floor routines notched it a victory in its home opener.
Superstar Luisa Blanco continued to lead the way for the Crimson Tide, as she scored three of Alabama's seven individual scores of 9.9 or higher. Alabama also scored half a tenth higher than it did in Las Vegas the week prior, so its average score for the season will improve.
More: Relive Nick Saban's epic Alabama football coaching career with our special book!
More: No. 8 Alabama gymnastics opens 2024 season with victory at Super 16 quad meet
Here are more takeaways from Alabama's win over Missouri:
Luisa Blanco wins the all-around
Blanco entered the meet ranked sixth nationally and third in the SEC in the all-around after scoring a 39.55 in Las Vegas. The senior scored a meet-high on the bars (9.950) and floor exercise (9.925). She added a team-high 9.875 on the vault and 9.25 on the beam.
Blanco's all-around score of 39.675 was an improvement over her Las Vegas score and will surely give her a boost closer to the top of both national and SEC rankings.
Alabama's uneven bars rotation is elite
Alabama might have one of the best uneven bars rotations in the country.
The five highest scores of the night were all by Crimson Tide gymnasts as it finished with a team score of 49.55 for the event, a notch higher than the 49.525 at the Super 16 meet.
"On bars, one of the biggest changes I've seen from them is they've really embraced finding their words," said coach Ashley Johnston. "We work hard on the mental preparation, visualization, and having keywords for every skill in their routine. It's something that they've newly embraced so that in the middle of their routines, they're staying focused on their corrections and the things they want to make happen."
Freshman Chloe LaCoursiere opened the rotation again, topping last week's 9.9 with a 9.925. Overall, Alabama had four gymnasts finish with a 9.9 or higher on the bars: LaCoursiere, Blanco, Cam Machado and Makarri Doggette (9.900 each). Senior Mati Waligora made her season debut on the event, adding a 9.875.
Rachel Rybicki bounces back
The balance beam at the Super 16 Championships claimed a few fall victims throughout the competition, Alabama's Rachel Rybicki among them. She scored a 9.225 after the slip-up last week, but the Tide was able to avoid counting her score as the other five gymnasts stayed upright.
Rybicki bounced back, scoring 9.8, the third-highest score on the team. The previous week's fall could have been attributed to the fact that the meet was on a podium, as opposed to the floor at Coleman Coliseum. Either way, Rybicki's response to adversity was exactly what coach Ashley Johnston wanted to see.
"It's really hard to chase perfection on the balance beam and easy to let your confidence get knocked when you have a mistake," Johnston said. "I'm proud of Rachel for showing resilience and not letting that affect her. She worked really hard this week in training, did her assignments and more to make sure that she was overprepared and knew how to get out and handle whatever emotions she was going to feel."
What's next for Alabama gymnastics?
The Crimson Tide will stay at home next week as it hosts Arkansas at 6 p.m. on Jan. 19. Alabama will then travel for a Jan. 26 road meet with the Florida Gators.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama gymnastics knocks off Mizzou in SEC meet home opener
