The Crimson Tide gymnastics team traveled to Auburn this weekend to compete against their
long-time rivals.
“The rivalry is so great for our sport,” said Coach Ashley Johnston on Feb. 6. “To be able to
show up to a competition and have a sold out arena that is invested and passionate about
competing at the highest level and seeing a win. No matter what side you are on it’s really the
ultimate gameday matchup. We are expecting it to be really high energy and a really fun invested
crowd.”
The rivalry is prevalent anytime the two schools compete in any sport, but gymnastics has a
special tradition where students, who call themselves the ‘gymnasty’s’, show out to support their
team and attempt to distract the opposing team.
“A group I’m part of, the ‘gymnasty’s’, paint up and we just try to make it the best home
atmosphere,” said Auburn engineering freshman Jeffery Stone. “We want to support our girls and
make sure they know we are their biggest fans. You know, if we can sike out the opponent we
wanna do that to.”
These fans stand in the front row of the Auburn student section and paint their shirts and
midriffs. They are positioned near the floor where they put on their main show. Each member
copies the opposing teams floor routine poses, mimicking them in an attempt to throw the athlete
off and to entertain the crowd as they spend a lot of time featured on the big screen.
“This meet is almost certainly louder than the others. It’s cowboy hat night, it’s bama, we go all
out,” said Stone.
The Alabama gymnastics team prepared for the high energy meet during last weeks practices.
“We have been practicing little things like loud music and people running around acting crazy
just to get that under our belt so when we go there it’s not anything new,” said junior Lily
Hudson on Feb. 6.
When The Crimson Tide arrived to the competition, they were met with a full arena colored with
Auburn fans decked out in orange shirts and orange cowboy hats. The support was showcased in
the loud cheers and engagement throughout the entire meet. Within the sea of orange, there were
a few specs of crimson representing the Alabama fans who made the trip to support the team.
These fans really stood out during Hudson’s Alabama themed floor routine.
“Fans are the backbone of any sport. We’ve been watching the section over there of Alabama
fans and I think it’s really important. I think it bumps them up and encourages them,” said local
Alabama fan Shelby Imel.
Alabama did fall short on Friday, loosing 197.05 to 197.725. The fans provided a loud
environment during every routine with music blaring, singing, cheering, and overall big
reactions.
“I think overall our team was actually really prepared to take on this environment. I thought they
did a good job of not trying to ignore it, but to kind of use it and help them move forward,” said
Johnston. “I think they were drained. It took a lot out of them to invest in the level that they were
investing all night long starting from warmups…Just some silly mistakes happened in areas that
we want to improve.”
Competing at Auburn is a unique environment. Now that The Crimson Tide has finished that
meet, they will shift their focus to the upcoming quad-meet at Texas Woman’s University.
