Elevate the Stage Huntsville

Recap

The Big Storyline: The quad meet turned into an Iron Bowl rematch, with Alabama and Auburn handily outscoring the competition. The Crimson Tide edged out the Tigers for the win and divvied up the event titles (Georgia senior Rachel Baumann was the only non-Alabama or Auburn gymnast to earn a share of an individual title). The Razorbacks defeated the Gymdogs for the first time this season after giving Georgia its only victory in week seven.  

Implications: Thanks to their respective home and away performances this weekend, Auburn and Alabama are now tied for second in the SEC and fifth nationally. They’ve all but secured their spots in the upcoming night session of the SEC championship. Arkansas and Georgia have both cracked the top 25 but remain a distant seventh and eighth in the SEC.

Records: Alabama scored its second 198-plus of the season for the first time since 1996. Cam Machado and Mati Waligoria both scored career highs on bars and tied their career bests on floor and vault, respectively. Auburn tied its highest away score in program history. Arkansas graduate student Sarah Shaffer scored a career high 9.950 on bars, leading the Razorbacks to its second highest bars score in program history. Georgia posted a season high on beam, including a career-high 9.875 from graduate student Emily Schild.

Preview

Current Rankings: No. 7 Alabama, No. 6 Auburn, No. 28 Georgia and Arkansas 

Why You Should Clear Space on Your DVR: Regular season SEC quad meets are a rare gem (as are podium meets) and give fans and gymnasts alike a preview of what to expect in the coming postseason. Again mimicking the postseason, all four teams will have already competed once this weekend and may use this opportunity to test their depth, both in terms of lineups and skill difficulty.  

You Can Fast Forward, but not Through This: Georgia’s season has been uneven to say the least, but its vault lineup has been solid from the start: The seniors have been the stars of this lineup, with Rachel Baumann, Mikayla Magee, Megan Roberts and Abbey Ward all contributing 10.0 SV vaults. Alabama and Auburn have both been outstanding on beam this season, with multiple gymnasts—including Luisa Blanco and Suni Lee—capable of perfection. Like Georgia, Arkansas has struggled to find its rhythm, but it’s always worth watching on floor.