The Alabama gymnastics team, ranked third nationally, finished second at the P&G Podium Challenge held Sunday at the Raising Cane’s River Center in Baton Rouge. The Crimson Tide scored 197.650, their second-highest road score of the season. LSU, ranked second, won the event with a 198.200. North Carolina and Arizona finished third and fourth with scores of 195.950 and 195.000 respectively.
Chloe LaCoursiere continued her streak as national leader on uneven bars by scoring 9.925 for the ninth consecutive meet. Azaraya Ra-Akbar tied her career high on bars with a score of 9.975, which was also the highest individual score in the quad meet. Gabby Gladieux took first place in the all-around competition with a total of 39.575 points.
Head coach Ashley Johnston commented on her team’s performance: “Back-to-back competitions here in Baton Rouge – lots of intense moments and environment that felt very championship-like at times, and I’m really proud of our team for being gritty and being resilient. I said really similar things when we competed at LSU a couple days ago, and I saw it again. I didn’t see any tired energy. I saw them continue to fight, continue to find ways to get better and continue to be unfazed. They had a great performance tonight, and I think, at times, the scores didn’t reflect that, and that was really frustrating and could’ve been something to really distract them from the mission. But they were unfazed and continued to fight and find ways to put an exclamation mark on their performance. Another great step in the right direction as we prepare for another doubleheader next weekend.”
Noella Marshall matched her personal best on vault with a score of 9.875 while Kylee Kvamme recorded her third consecutive beam routine scoring at least 9.925.
Alabama began its day with a strong showing on uneven bars (49.500), led by LaCoursiere’s consistency and Ra-Akbar’s standout performance.
On balance beam, Alabama posted a team score of 49.175 highlighted by Kvamme’s effort.
The floor exercise saw all five countable routines receive marks of at least 9.900 for only the third time this season; Alabama achieved its highest floor rotation since late January with a total of 49.600.
The team concluded on vault where Jordyn Paradise scored a notable 9.925—her third straight week above 9.900—and Marshall tied her career best.
Alabama will return home Friday, March 6 for its Be the Change meet against Kentucky Wildcats beginning at 6:30 p.m., which will be streamed live on SEC Network+.
