Alabama
Arkansas
No. 3 Seeded Alabama Gymnastics Set for SEC Championships Following Practice Day
3/17/2017 4:37:00 PM | Gymnastics
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – With its final practice in the books following a 90-minute session on the podium Friday afternoon, the No. 3 seeded Alabama gymnastics team is set for Saturday's Southeastern Conference Championships in Veterans Memoria Arena in Jacksonville, Fla.
"We had a good practice day, making a lot of little adjustments," UA head coach Dana Duckworth said. "We weren't perfect, but that's not what we're looking for today. Our ladies were present, in the moment and ready for tomorrow."
This week's national rankings determine the seeding for Saturday's championships. No. 2 LSU (1), No. 4 Florida (2), No. 6 Alabama (3) and No. 8 Georgia (4) are the top four seeds and will compete in the second session that begins at 6 p.m. ET.
The SEC's first session is comprised of No. 12 Kentucky (5), No. 14 Missouri (6), No. 21 Auburn (7) and No. 26 Arkansas (8) and will start 2 p.m. ET.
Alabama will start the 2017 SEC Championships on the balance beam before advancing to the floor exercise and vault before finishing on the uneven bars.
"Keely McNeer will be back in the lineup for the first time since her car accident before the Georgia meet and that will be a boost to our lineup," Duckworth said.
Alabama has been seeded third at the SEC Championships the last three years and have come away with SEC titles in 2014 and 2015 and a runner-up finish in 2016.
NOTES:
- Both sessions of the 2017 SEC Championships will be broadcast live, with the early session broadcast on ESPNU and the late session on the SEC Network.
- In addition to broadcasting the second session of the SEC Championships live on the SEC Network starting at 6 p.m. ET, all four teams will have a live feed on SEC Network + dedicated to them via WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app. There will also be a quad -box feed that shows the action on all four apparatus at one time.
- Immediately following the meet, the SEC Network + will also provide coverage of the trophy ceremony.
- Olympic medalists and ESPN gymnastic analysts Bart Conner and Kathy Johnson Clarke are calling the Championship, with reporting from Laura Rutledge.
- Earlier on Friday, Crimson Tide senior Aja Sims was named to the SEC Community Service Team.
- This year marks the second time that the SEC championships have been held in Jacksonville, with the first coming in 2010, when Alabama finished second.
- Overall, Alabama has won nine SEC titles since 1988, including four of the last eight.
- The Crimson Tide has finished either first or second at the SEC championships 29 times since 1982.
- After back-to-back titles in 2014 and 2015, Alabama finished second to Florida in 2016 by .025 in Fayetteville, Ark.
- Alabama won three individual SEC titles in 2016. Mackenzie Brannan won the vault while Katie Bailey and Kiana Winston shared the uneven bars title.
For all the latest information on Alabama gymnastics, follow BamaGymnastics on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and head coach Dana Duckworth on Twitter and Instagram at @UACoachDana.
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