Four Crimson Tide gymnasts took turns at the top of the scoreboard in each rotation to help No. 4 Alabama sweep in-state rival Auburn 197.950-197.250 Friday night at Neville Arena.
Auburn’s Julianne Huff won the all-around, besting Bama’s Gabby Gladieux 39.5250-39.0500. Huff took the lead over Gladieux with better performances on the vault (9.900-9.625) and uneven bars (9.825-9.625).
Gladieux and the Tide came out on top in the end with consistent scoring throughout the lineup that matched their highest score of the season. Jasmine Cawley, Kylee Kvamme, Chloe LaCoursier, and Gabby Ladanyi dominated the beam with four scores of 9.90 or better. Olivia Ahern was the only Auburn gymnast to score a 9.90 on the apparatus.
Huff was the lone Tigers gymnast to break up the Tide dominance on the floor exercise with a 9.90. McKenzie Matters and Jamison Sears joined Gladieux, LaCoursiere, and Cawley on the 9.90 plateau. Gladieux took the top spot with a 9.9250.
“Our word of the week this week has been ‘certain’ – whatever uncertainty we faced, we wanted to be certain that we could handle it, and I think the team did a really good job of that tonight,” said Ashley Johnston, head coach of Alabama. “We got multiple half-tenths better tonight, here and there, and ultimately had another great team score. But, we’re hungry for more. That’s the mindset of this team – unfazed and relentless.”
Auburn was without Sophie Bell for the third consecutive week. Bell rooted on her teammates from a mobility scooter. Without her, the Tigers still managed to delight their head coach by posting their largest score of the season.
“Really happy that we’re starting to put it together,” Auburn coach Jeff Graba said. “They’ve been through a grind. This is not an easy run. To get out of that gauntlet and start putting it together, this looked a little bit more normal.”
The win mirrored Alabama’s last win in Neville Arena seven years ago, when Nickie Guerrero won three events (vaults-9.950, beam-9.900, floor-9.925) to best Auburn 197.300-195.400. And just like Friday night, Bama was consistent, sweeping all four apparatus.
Consistency will be the key as conference and nationals approach.