No. 8 Alabama gymnastics opens 2024 season with victory at Super 16 quad meet

The No. 8 Alabama gymnastics team got their season off to an ideal start in Las Vegas by winning a quad-meet over No. 5 UCLA, No. 7 California and No. 17 Auburn at the Mean Girls Super 16 Championships. The Crimson Tide were the only team of the four to crack a team score of 197, finishing with a 197.125. Cal finished second with a 196.850, Auburn third with a 196.600, and UCLA fourth with a 196.550.

Alabama competed out of the traditional order, starting with the floor exercise, typically the final event, before moving into the vault, bars and beam. The double-rivalry matchups between UCLA-Cal and Alabama-Auburn, as well as the high rankings of each team, made this fourth and final session of the Super 16 one of the most anticipated collegiate gymnastics events of the early season.

More: Alabama gymnastics: 5 things to know about the Tide's 2024 season

Here are three takeaways from the Crimson Tide's first meet of the season:

Opening with floor routine was by design

Opening the night with an event typically reserved for the finale was an interesting way to start the 2024 campaign for Alabama. According to coach Ashley Johnston, though, starting with the floor routine was an integral part of the team's strategy.

"We selected to start on the floor because it has been one of our really strong events, not just tumbling-wise, but we've been working hard on the performance," Johnston said after the meet. "We felt like that was going to be a really good place to start strong and just settle into the groove of competing again."

The team certainly seemed settled following a team score of 49.250 on the floor, and they carried that momentum through the rest of the night.

Blanco and Gladieux provide immediate star power

Senior Luisa Blanco and sophomore Gabby Gladieux started the 2024 season right where they left off in 2023. Both All-SEC performers last year provided the Tide with a much-needed spark in all four apparatus.

Gladieux scored a meet and career-high 9.975 as the floor anchor, setting the tone early in the night with a score that would not be topped, not just on the floor but in any other area. Blanco, meanwhile, clinched the victory for the Tide with an exemplary beam routine that earned a 9.875. She also tied for the meet-high on the uneven bars with a 9.900.

Both finished in the top five for all-around individual scoring. Blanco tied with UCLA's Selena Harris for second overall with a 39.550, while Gladieux tied for fourth with Auburn's Olivia Hollingsworth with a 39.450.

Encouraging debuts for two freshmen

First-year competitors Jamison Sears and Chloe LaCoursiere both made their Crimson Tide debuts in Las Vegas. The two freshmen provided a key spark to the Alabama lineup.

Sears scored a 9.850 as the leadoff vaulter, while LaCoursiere scored a 9.900 from the same lineup position on bars. LaCoursiere also performed on the vault, but an out-of-bounds landing knocked her score down to 9.775. Live stream commentators Jordan Chiles, a Team USA gymnast, and DD Breaux, longtime LSU gymnastics coach, agreed that she likely would have scored a 9.900 or above without the deduction.

LaCoursiere was also granted the opportunity for exhibition performances on floor and beam, scoring 9.850 and 9.575, respectively, on those. Each team had an exhibition performer for each event, but none of these scores counted towards the event scoring.

What's next for Alabama gymnastics?

The Crimson Tide will travel back home to host No. 12 Missouri on Friday, Jan. 12 at 6 p.m. CT.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama gymnastics wins at Vegas Super 16 meet over UCLA, Cal, Auburn