LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Alabama Gymnastics team won the NCAA Central Regional Championship with a 197.4 in Memorial Coliseum Saturday night, finishing more than a point ahead of second-place Nebraska’s 195.875.

“It never gets old, and I’m always appreciative,” said head coach Sarah Patterson. “I think this is the toughest meet of the year […]. Some of those teams were the No. 1 seed but didn’t advance to the national championships.”

With the win, the Crimson Tide has now won an NCAA-best 25 regional titles and advances to its 28th consecutive NCAA Championship

Sophomore Geralen Stack-Eaton won the all-around with a 39.55, the second highest score of her career, while classmate Ashley Priess was second with a 39.525, tying her season high.

Stack-Eaton and junior Kayla Hoffman tied for top honors on the vault and Stack-Eaton and senior Kassi Price tied for first on the uneven bars. Priess won the balance beam while senior Morgan Dennis won the floor exercise.

Alabama got things off to a hot start when it posted its highest floor exercise score of the season, going 49.525 behind Dennis’ 9.95 and 9.9s from Stack-Eaton, Hoffman and Priess. The Tide kept things rolling on the next rotation, posting a 49.375 on the vault behind 9.9s from Stack-Eaton and Hoffman and a 9.875 from Priess.

“After floor and vault, we kind of set the standard that we were the team to beat and we just continued it from there,” Patterson said.

The final site for this year’s national championships is Gainesville, Fla. in the O’Connell Center on the University of Florida campus. This marks the third time Gainesville has hosted the championships and the first since 1997.