The Alabama Crimson Tide gymnastics is a Division I gymnastics team representing the University of Alabama in NCAA competition. The Tide hosts its home matches in Coleman Coliseum on the university's Tuscaloosa, Alabama campus. One of only eight gymnastics teams to win the national title, the Crimson Tide has won six NCAA championships, ten SEC championships, and an NCAA-record 32 Regional championships. The team is led by head coach Ashley Priess-Johnston, who succeeded Dana Duckworth following the 2022 season.
History
The early years With the passage of the 1972 Title 9 Amendment which provided for the inclusion of women in sports, The University of Alabama Gymnastics team existed as a club sport. With the first team acting as a club sport In 1972, The University of Alabama Gymnastics Team existed and competed with such teams as Jacksonville State until it was later sanctioned as a viable gymnastic team in 1975.
The University of Alabama's first gymnastics team debuted in 1975 and began with a loss to Georgia College. The team moved along in relative obscurity, going through four coaches in four years, until the summer of 1978 when Sarah Patterson was announced as the fifth head coach of the Crimson Tide. Her first team finished the year 7-7 and she followed up in 1980 with the first winning season in school history. In 1983, the Crimson Tide made its first championship appearance in Salt Lake City, Utah after winning the South Region, defeating the Florida Gators.
The eighties Alabama blossomed into a perennial contender under Sarah Patterson and continued to qualify for nationals as well as producing numerous All-Americans. Penney Hauschild became the Tide's first NCAA Champion in 1985 when she won the uneven bars as well as capturing the All-Around title, becoming the first non-Utah gymnast to do so. She would defend her All-Around title in 1986 while also winning the floor title.
The Crimson Tide continued to advance throughout the decade and finally won their first NCAA title in 1988. The Tide marched into Salt Lake City and defeated host Utah (189.50) and defending champion Georgia (186.80) with a commanding 190.05. 1988 also marked the Tide's first SEC title, when the competition was hosted in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
The nineties The 1990s began with a bang for the Tide as Alabama was crowned the 1990 SEC Champions. The team won its second national title in 1991 before a home crowd in Tuscaloosa. A rivalry between Alabama and Georgia, which endures to this day, began around this time. Patterson and Georgia coach Suzanne Yoculan hosted frequent dual meets between their teams to inspire the rivalry. The Tide first sold out Coleman Coliseum on February 1, 1997, when 15,043 fans watched Alabama take on Georgia; the Tide continues to report some of the highest fan turnout of any program, with an average attendance at home meets in 2014 of 12,826 (second only to Utah).
In 1995, the Tide won their third SEC Tournament championship in Gainesville. Alabama went into their final rotation in fourth place before scoring the highest team vault total in NCAA history as all their gymnasts scored 9.9 or higher, with junior Kim Kelly capping off the night with a perfect 10.
Alabama finished the 1996 season with their third national championship, recording a record team score of 198.025. However, 1997 saw the Crimson Tide fail to reach the Super Six for the first time since 1983.
The new millennium Alabama captured their fourth SEC title in 2000, but only managed a fifth-place finish at nationals that year, improving to fourth in 2001. The Tide looked dangerous once again in 2002 as Andreé Pickens, Raegan Tomasek, Alexis Brion, Kristin Sterner, and freshman Jeana Rice led the Tide to a fourth national championship at home in Tuscaloosa, defeating two-time defending national champion UCLA. In 2003, the Tide won their fifth SEC title with the youngest squad in program history, with seven freshman, three sophomores, three juniors and one senior. Nationally, Rice won the All Around in 2004 while freshman Ashley Miles won the first of her three national titles on vault. The Crimson Tide added their first Olympian to the team with Terin Humphrey, a two-time silver medalist at the 2004 Olympics, who joined Alabama in 2005 and would go on to win two national uneven bar titles.
In 2007, the Tide marked their first absence from the Super Six since 1997. In 2009, Alabama was the first gymnastics program to draw two crowds of over 15,000 in one season. They finished the season in second place behind Georgia, their best result since 2005.
The 2010s Alabama maintained a rank of No. 1 throughout the 2010 regular season, but struggled at the SEC championships and finished the night as runners up behind Florida. Despite putting on one of the top performances of the preliminaries, Alabama stumbled in their first rotation at Nationals, sinking as low as sixth place during the final competition before rallying back to finish 3rd.
The Tide began the 2011 season with eight freshmen on the team, making it the largest class in school history and accounting for nearly half the roster. The Tide finished the regular season at 11–1, and won the 2011 SEC Championship, taking down No. 1 Florida in the process. Alabama entered the Super Six that year as the No. 1 seed and defeated defending champions UCLA with a winning score of 197.650, their highest Super Six score since 1996. The Tide defeated the overwhelming favorite Florida to win a second consecutive title in 2012 with a score of 197.850.
Alabama entered the 2013 postseason primed for a close battle with Florida in the Super Six, but uncharacteristic mistakes saw Alabama slip to third place behind Oklahoma, while Florida won its first national title. As the host school in 2014, Alabama won their eighth SEC Championship with a team score of 197.875, but fell to fourth place at Nationals after having to count a fall. Alabama's win at the 2014 Seattle Regional marked Patterson's thousandth career win.
In 2015 Dana Duckworth was announced as the head coach after Sarah Patterson retired. She led them to their second straight SEC title, 9th overall, their 21st regional title and a fourth-place finish at Nationals.
The Power of Pink The Power of Pink is the name given to one of the Crimson Tide's home meets each season in which all the participants and fans wear pink to support breast cancer awareness. The first Power of Pink meet, designated the "Drive 4 the Cause" meet, was held in February 2005 at Alabama's home meet against Auburn; Coach Sarah Patterson ordered pink leotards for her team and requested that all fans show up wearing pink. The meet, now known as the "Pink Meet", is an annual crowd favorite with each following "Pink Meet" selling out. The movement quickly spread among other NCAA gymnastics teams, with many schools participating in at least one Pink Meet per season, usually in late February or early March.
Among Patterson's early supporters was the local DCH Regional Medical Center, which created the DCH Breast Cancer Fund. The fund was set up to provide disadvantaged women with means for early detection and treatment for breast cancer. Other supporters include the University, community leaders and Tuscaloosa Toyota. Tuscaloosa Toyota became more and more involved donating free pink shirts to give away at the meets and prize give-aways during the meet. Over a decade of Pink Meets, almost $1.5 million has been raised for cancer research at the DCH Fund. Each Alabama gymnast escorts a breast cancer survivor during team introductions at Pink Meets hosted in Coleman Coliseum.
Head coaches Name Years Record Win % Riki Sutton 1975 4–4–0 .500 Sheila Hill 1976 3–7–0 .300 Phyllis Draper 1977 1–7–0 .130 Tom Steele 1978 6–7–0 .460 Sarah Patterson 1979–2014 392–90–2 .813 Dana Duckworth 2014–2022 52–26–1 .665 Ashley Priess-Johnston 2022 – present
NCAA titles +Alabama Crimson Tide Team NCAA National Championships Year National Champion Score Runner-up Score Location 1988 Alabama 190.050 Utah Red Rocks 189.500 Jon M. Huntsman Center, Salt Lake City, Utah 1991 Alabama 195.125 Utah Red Rocks 194.375 Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 1996 Alabama 198.025 UCLA Bruins 197.475 Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 2002 Alabama 197.575 Georgia GymDogs 197.250 Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 2011 Alabama 197.650 UCLA Bruins 197.375 Wolstein Center, Cleveland, Ohio 2012 Alabama 197.850 Florida Gators 197.775 Gwinnett Center, Duluth, Georgia
Alabama has won 29 individual NCAA championships. + Individual NCAA Champions Event Winner/Year All Around Penney Hauschild 1985, 1986Dee Dee Foster 1990Meredith Willard 1996Jeana Rice 2004Kim Jacob 2014 Vault Ashley Miles 2003, 2005, 2006Diandra Milliner 2013Katie Bailey 2016 Uneven Bars Penney Hauschild 1985Stephanie Woods 1996Andreé Pickens 2002Terin Humphrey 2005, 2007Katie Bailey 2017 Balance Beam Gina Basile, 1991Dana Dobransky 1992, 1993Andreé Pickens 1999Geralen Stack-Eaton 2012Luisa Blanco 2021 Floor Exercise Penney Hauschild 1986Kim Kelly 1996Ashley Miles 2004Morgan Dennis 2007Geralen Stack-Eaton 2011Lexi Graber 2021
Current roster +Roster (2026–2027)Alabama Crimson Tide Name Height Year Hometown Club Love Birt 5-0 JR Camden, DE First State Gymnastics Mady Boyd FR Tallahassee, FL Brandy Johnson's Global Gymnastics Jasmine Cawley 5-1 SO Clermont, FL Brandy Johnson's Global Gymnastics Kennedy Cochran FR Chandler, AZ Gold Medal Gymnastics Leigh Anne Elliott FR Williamsburg, VA World Class Gymnastics Ryan Fuller 5-5 JR Knightsen, CA Head Over Heels Elizaveta Grebenkova FR Spring, TX Ella Sloane Griffin FR Leesburg, VA Dulles Gymnastics Kylee Kvamme 5-1 JR Auburn, WA Metropolitan Gymnastics Chloe LaCoursiere 5-4 SR San Diego, CA Coastal Gymnastics Academy Kate LaCoursiere FR San Diego, CA Coastal Gymnastics Academy, Gabby Ladanyi 5-2 SR Spring, TX World Champions Centre Noella Marshall 5-3 SO China Township, MI McKenzie Matters 5-3 SO New Holland, PA Prestige Gymnastics Ella Kate Parker FR West Monroe, LA Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy Azaraya Ra-Akbar 5-3 SO Baltimore, MD Kitchener-Waterloo Gymnastics Club Addison Sarisky FR Girard, OH Olympic Dreams Gymnastics Avery Schlichting FR Belvidere, IL Energym Gymnastics Jamison Sears 4-11 SR Yorktown, VA World Class Gymnastics Paityn Walker 5-3 JR Hercules, CA Head Over Heels
Head coach: Ashley Priess Johnston Associate head coach: Justin Spring Assistant coach: Amelia Hundley Assistant coach: Ross Thompson
Team records
Top team total Rank Score Meet Year1 198.250Stanford20142 198.175NCAA Regional2022T3 198.075NCAA Regional1996T3 198.075Arkansas20225 198.025Super Six1996T6 198.000NCAA Regional2001T6 198.000Elevate the Stage2022T6 198.000Metroplex Challenge20239 197.975Auburn200310 197.950SEC Championships2004
Top vault total Rank Score Meet Year1 49.775Super Six19962 49.750SEC Championships19953 49.675Georgia20044 49.650Kentucky2010T5 49.625Super Six2012T5 49.625SEC Championships2004T5 49.625Auburn2003T5 49.625Super Six2005T5 49.625Stanford2014
Top uneven bars total Rank Score Meet YearT1 49.675NCAA Regional2021T1 49.675SEC Championships2022T3 49.650SEC Championships2014T3 49.650Arkansas2022T5 49.625NCAA Regional2001T5 49.625NCAA Regional2021T5 49.625Elevate the Stage2022
Top balance beam total Rank Score Meet Year1 49.725NCAA Regional20012 49.700LSU2023T3 49.650Auburn2014T3 49.650Auburn2022T3 49.650Auburn2023
Top floor total Rank Score Meet YearT1 49.700Georgia2001T1 49.700Arkansas2022T1 49.700Auburn2023T4 49.675SEC Championships2004T4 49.675Stanford2014T4 49.675Super Six2014
Past Olympians Terin Humphrey (2004) Dominique Pegg (2012) Kylie Dickson (2016) Shallon Olsen (2016, 2020, 2024) Luisa Blanco (2024)
References
External links The Official Web Site of Alabama Crimson Tide Gymnastics GymTide.com Coverage of Alabama Gymnastics