The Alabama gymnastics team placed four student athletes on the 2010 Southeastern Conference Freshman Academic Honor Roll the league office announced Wednesday. The Crimson Tide’s total is the most of any gymnastics team in the conference.

“I’m proud of these ladies and the start they’ve made in their Crimson Tide academic and athletic careers,” gymnastics head coach Sarah Patterson said. “We strive every day to be the best in everything we do and this award certainly speaks to the success our ladies have had in the classroom.”

Courtney Bell, Marissa Gutierrez, Mary Hauswirth and Ashley Sledge all earned the rookie honor. To earn a spot on the honor roll a student-athlete must have a 3.00 or better cumulative grade point average, be on scholarship or be a letter winner and have completed 24 semester hours.

The four Alabama freshmen join 12 upperclassmen in earning a spot on the league’s academic honor roll, giving Alabama 16 total honors this season, the highest total in school history, eclipsing the previous mark, set by the 2002 NCAA Championship team, by one. The Tide’s total leads the league by a wide margin again this season, outpacing its closest competitor by five.

When the SEC announced its Winter Academic Honor Roll earlier this year, all five seniors earned the honor, including Alyssa Chapman, All-Americans Kassi Price, Morgan Dennis, Ricki Lebegern and Casey Overton. Juniors Megan Mashburn and All-American Kayla Hoffman both earned the honor as did sophomores Jocelyn Fowler, All-Americans Ashley Priess, Geralen Stack-Eaton and Rachel Terry.

The Tide, which posted its 19th top-3 NCAA Championship finish and won its 25th regional title and its 20th top-two SEC Championship finish this season, not only led the league this year, but leads the SEC all-time with 213 honors since the award’s inception in 1984.