Gymnastics looks to carry historic momentum into Saturday’s SEC championships

Senior+Lexi+Graber+performing+her+beam+routine+against+Missouri+on+Feb.+25.+

CW / Davida Franklin

Senior Lexi Graber performing her beam routine against Missouri on Feb. 25.

Nathan Brown, Contributing Writer

No. 7 Alabama gymnastics looks to win back-to-back Southeastern Conference titles for the first time since 2013 and 2014. The Crimson Tide will defend their SEC title Friday night at 7 p.m. CT at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.

Saturday marks the seventh time that Birmingham is the site of the SEC Gymnastics Championships. The Magic City last hosted the championships in 2014. Alabama has won the SEC title in Birmingham three times.

All eight SEC programs will compete on Saturday, with the bottom 4 seeds competing in Session One and the top 4 in Session Two. The Auburn Tigers, Florida Gators, and LSU Tigers will compete in session two alongside the Crimson Tide. The team with the highest total between both sessions will be crowned SEC Champion. 

Alabama enters the meet with consecutive 198-plus totals in consecutive performances, the first time in school history.  The Crimson Tide’s score of 198.000 helped them win the Elevate the Stage meet on March 6. 

Alabama will follow the same rotation order as last year’s championship team. The Crimson Tide will start on floor exercise followed by vault, uneven bars and a balance beam finish. 

“It’s a blessing that we’re starting on the floor and ending on the beam, we’ve been there, we’ve done that,” Duckworth said. “But we’ve really focused on a mindset of preparation that no matter where we start we need to start strong and wherever we finish we need to finish strong. The philosophy has just been to be prepared on all four events.”

The Crimson Tide has won 10 SEC championships in program history, including two under Duckworth.  

The SEC championship will air live starting at 2:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network. Alabama will take the floor at 7 p.m. CT.