Junior Chloe LaCoursiere and freshman Azaraya Ra-Akbar have been ranked nationally on the uneven bars this season. LaCoursiere has been No. 1 in the country since Week 4. Ra-Akbar was ranked No. 3 in Week 8 and moved to No. 2 in Week 9.
National ranking is updated each week on Road to Nationals. Ranking is based on the National Qualifying Score, which is calculated by averaging all of the scores except the highest and lowest.
LaCoursiere’s NQS is 9.955, and Ra-Akbar’s is 9.945. On the website, fans can also see the average scores, which count the highest and lowest dropped scores. LaCoursiere’s is 9.947 and Ra-Akbar’s is 9.914.
LaCoursiere and Ra-Akbar have been Alabama’s dynamic duo on the uneven bars, competing in the fifth and sixth positions and putting up high scores.
“We make little jokes like ‘okay No. 1, No. 2,’ but we don’t let it consume us,” Ra-Akbar said. “We use the same bar settings. I think that’s cool too.”
Ra-Akbar has been a stellar uneven bars competitor since her first meet. She debuted in the season opener against Clemson and landed a 9.975 in her very first competition routine as the anchor.
In the win against Illinois, Ra-Akbar put up a perfect routine, scoring 10s across the board
“I was with my teammates. We were jumping around just because it was a sweet routine,” Ra-Akbar said. “That was a cool moment. The team genuinely had genuine joy for me. I know it was something I’ll never forget.”
Over the last three seasons, LaCoursiere has been a consistent uneven bars worker. In her rookie season, LaCoursiere had eight routines score 9.9 or higher and was named a WCGA Championship All-American second team, as well as named All-SEC team and All-Freshman team for the uneven bars.
LaCoursiere continued to shine through her sophomore season as well. She was named to the Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association Championship All-American second team again for the uneven bars. LaCoursiere also increased her uneven bars career high to 9.95, achieving that score twice.
As a freshman, LaCoursiere competed in the leadoff position and has since moved her way through the lineup to the fifth position. Competing in the fifth position means there is added pressure to perform even better if there was a fall earlier in the lineup.
“When the pressure rises, I go back to reminding myself to do this freely and for the person who loves it,” LaCoursiere said. “I do my best gymnastics when I’m in love with the sport.”
This season alone, LaCoursiere increased her career high to 9.975 in the loss to Florida, taking the event title. She has made this score three more times, most recently at Illinois.
LaCoursiere and Ra-Akbar are two of the six routines that Alabama has to compete in an uneven bars rotation, and this season, the Crimson Tide has put up large rotation scores.
In the win against Illinois, the Crimson Tide scored a 49.7 on the uneven bars to mark a new program high score. Senior Gabby Gladieux made a then-career high of 9.9, senior Natalia Pawlak made a career high of 9.95 and Ra-Akbar was perfect.
The Crimson Tide has consistently had a lights-out performance on the uneven bars, taking some pressure off of LaCoursiere and Ra-Akbar to be perfect.
“You don’t feel like the whole weight of the world is on your shoulders because we have so much trust in each other,” Ra-Akbar said. “There’s a level of trust that we have that makes it so much easier to compete freely and to be able to do what we do in practice.”
LaCoursiere and Ra-Akbar will look to continue to put up high-scoring routines in the postseason on the road to the National Championship.
