This Friday, No. 17 Alabama is set to take on No. 16 Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
“I’m so excited to be in that arena, I’ve heard it’s very electric,” freshman Paityn Walker said. “I’m excited for our team to be in there creating our own energy.”
It is crucial for the Crimson Tide to post a score of at least 197 against the Razorbacks to help it land a spot at the SEC championships in March.
To do so, the team will have to limit falls on the balance beam and make sure there are no wobbles during landings on tumbling sequences.
Last week, Alabama hosted the Auburn Tigers in Coleman Coliseum. The meet ended with a loss for the home team, and there is one specific event the Crimson Tide should look to do better on. Alabama posted a low score of 48.925 on the vault in the first rotation due to the gymnasts taking big steps when they landed, which led to deductions.
“It obviously wasn’t the best way we wanted to start off the meet,” Walker said. “You want to do better than before and I feel like we’re just going to get bigger and better.”
To keep individual scores high, Alabama will need to make sure the gymnasts aren’t overturning or going in and getting too much power, as these lead to imperfect landings.
Last season, the Crimson Tide tied with Arkansas at Coleman Coliseum. A tie is an odd thing to come across in gymnastics, since the sport is scored down to thousandths of a point.
Throughout the meet, Alabama and Arkansas were neck and neck. The Crimson Tide will want to get the lead early and score high to ensure a road win. If Alabama is able to clinch a win in Fayetteville, this would mark the Crimson Tide’s first road victory this season.
The meet is set to start at 6:30 p.m. CT and can be streamed on SEC Network.
