This year’s regional round of the NCAA gymnastics championships has been full of victories, upsets, and heartbreak. Alabama’s gymnastics team advanced out of the Ann Arbor regional to qualify for nationals, but the Crimson Tide realizes that it’s lucky to be in that position. Last year, it was one of the heartbroken teams that was sent home before Fort Worth.
“It’s just a feeling that you never want to have again,” said junior Lilly Hudson. “It lit a fire in us.” The disappointment from last year changed Alabama’s mindset. It inspired growth as individuals and growth as a team.
“It wasn’t that gymnastic-ly we weren’t ready. It was mentally and emotionally we put too much on the moment,” said head coach Ashley Priess-Johnston. So, this year, the Tide focused on controlling the controllables. Priess-Johnston acknowledged that the postseason is tough everywhere around the country, no matter who you’re going up against. But “if you focus on that, it kind of paralyzes you from just being who you are,” said Priess-Johnston. The Tide’s mindset and culture were the focus of this postseason, and that’s what made the difference.
Qualifying for nationals means so much to these gymnasts, especially after what happened last…
