TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – After an abrupt end to the 2020 season, the Alabama gymnastics team returns to action for the first time since last March, opening this season at home in Coleman Coliseum this Friday with the Kentucky Wildcats starting at 8 p.m. CT. The meet will air live on ESPNU and will be streamed on the ESPN app with Olympians Bart Conner and Kathy Johnson Clarke calling the action.
The Crimson Tide's 2020 season ended on March 12, the day before its regular-season finale. That meet, Elevate the Stage, along with the entire postseason were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This marks the first time that Alabama has opened its season with Kentucky, and just the second time it has opened its home slate with the Wildcats, with the first time coming 2009, when Alabama posted a 195.825-194.075 win. Alabama and Kentucky last faced off last season in Tuscaloosa with the Tide earning a 197.200-196.650 victory on Feb. 28.
"We're grateful to be able to open the season this week. This team has a heart of gratitude – they come in every day with the attitude of 'we get to compete.' The SEC-only schedule is set up so that we have four meets, a weekend off, and then four more meets, but we're just focused on this meet and taking it one Friday at a time."
Lexi Graber on a Shortened Season in 2020 and Coming into 2021
"As a team, when we found out that our season was over last spring, we knew that we had so much more left in us in that season. We are all just so hungry to continue where we left off. We are also just so grateful to have a season, to have each other, and compete Friday by Friday."
Alonza Klopfer on Competing in Front of Smaller Crowds Due to COVID-19 Guidelines
"We make that energy every single day in practice. I tell the girls that all the time and that we need each other. We are always one with the person on the beam, the floor, the bars and the vault, so we create that energy every day."
The 2021 Alabama Crimson Tide
- There are 16 gymnasts on the 2021 roster – two seniors, six juniors, four sophomores and four freshmen
- Alabama returns 17 of its 24 routines from its final meet of 2020, a win against Georgia, including its entire balance beam lineup
- The Crimson Tide returns one All-American from last year's squad, Makarri Doggette
- There is one individual SEC champion on this year's team – Lexi Graber – and one NCAA Regional champion, also Graber
- The Tide also returns four gymnasts who have earned All-SEC honors during their careers, Luisa Blanco, Doggette, Graber and Shallon Olsen
Friday's Meet
- The Alabama gymnastics team opens its 47th season on Friday, Jan. 8 against Kentucky in Coleman Coliseum
- Friday's meet, that is sold out, marks the first of an eight-meet, all Southeastern Conference regular-season slate for both Alabama and Kentucky
- It marks the fifth time over the past decade that Alabama has started at home and the first time since 2014 that the Crimson Tide has opened at home with an SEC opponent (Missouri)
- Friday also marks the second year in a row (at Auburn) that the Tide has opened the season with an SEC foe and the fifth time over the past 10 years
- Alabama comes into tonight's opener ranked sixth in the preseason coaches poll, while Kentucky is No. 12
Season Openers
- The Crimson Tide is 63-12-1 in season openers since 1979, a tally that takes several multi-team meets into account, including an eight-year run (2000-07) of starting things off with the Super 6 Challenge, as well as a quad meet to open the 2019 season
- Alabama last opened its season at home with an SEC opponent on Jan. 10, 2014 against Missouri in Tuscaloosa, with Alabama posting a 197.150-193.425 win
Celebrating Champions
- During Friday's meet, the Crimson Tide will celebrate the 10th anniversary of its 2011 Triple Crown
- That season, for just the second time in program history, Alabama won the Southeastern Conference, NCAA Regional and NCAA Championship in the same season
- Fielding a team that lost four All-Americans to graduation and a fifth, Ashley Priess, to ankle surgery in the fall, and had a championship lineup that included 13 routines that weren't in the mix the year before, the Crimson Tide swept the postseason
- 2011 senior Kayla Hoffman summed it up best in the moments after clinching the championship sweep with a stellar floor exercise routine "Sometimes, it's not about talent, it's about heart," she told CBS' Amanda Borden. "Because we're so close– that made the difference."
Up Next
- After opening at home against the Wildcats, Alabama takes to the road, traveling to Columbia, Mo., to take on the Mizzou Tigers on Friday, Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. CT
- The UA-UM meet will be streamed live on the SEC Network+ and the ESPN app
- The Crimson Tide's next home meet will come on Friday, Jan. 22 against the Auburn Tigers at 7:30 p.m. CT, with the in-state rivalry being broadcast live on the SEC Network
For all the latest information on Alabama gymnastics, follow BamaGymnastics on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and head coach Dana Duckworth on Instagram at @UACoachDana.
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Alabama Gymnastics Opens 2021 Season with Kentucky Friday in Coleman Coliseum - rolltide.com
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