The Alabama Crimson Tide Gymnastics Team completed an intensive workout this past Sunday on all four events, going through mock 15 minute extended and later 3 minute touch warm-ups to prepare the athletes for Friday Night as they open against the Missouri Tigers in Columbia. 

Alabama was most impressive (as anticipated) on the balance beam, executing seven straight sensational routines, starting with senior Marissa Gutierrez, followed by Diandra Milliner, Kayla Williams, Kaitlyn Clark, Ashley Priess, with Kim Jacob anchoring.  Sarah DeMeo competed in the 7th position, having just returned two days before from a brief bout of flu. Her excellent routine was the icing on the cake.  Freshman Lauren Beers was in the 8th position and struggled with the second flight element landing (back pike) and had some balance checks on a leap series and her side Somi.  However, she has been pretty impressive on this event during Fall training and is expected to continue to press for a spot in the line-up as the season progresses, much like Kayla Williams did last year. 

Bama moved to the vault and again executed eight confident routines: Kim Jacob (Y 1/1), Kaitlyn Clark (Y 1/1), Lauren Beers (Y 1.5), Kayla Williams (Y 1.5), Marissa Gutierrez (Y 1/1) and Diandra Milliner (Y 1.5), with Ria Domier (pike 1/2) in the alternate spot along with Carley Sims (Y 1/1).  Ashley Sledge (Y 1/1) was being held out until later in practice on this event, focusing most of her workouts on floor and uneven bars on this date.

There were some glitches observed with a few routines during the uneven bars (Sims, Jacob) and floor exercise (Sims, Parker) sets but these were minimal and easily corrected in subsequent reps.  Solid uneven bars sets were executed by Alexin, DeMeo, Clark, Sledge, Priess and Parker. On floor, Lauren Beers was particularly impressive with the opening routine on the hard floor, hitting all tumbling passes with crisp landings.  Confident sets were executed also by Clark, Frost, Fowler, Gutierrez, Milliner, Priess, DeMeo, Sledge, and Jacob.  Sims had sassy and engaging choreography but experienced trouble on her final pass (double pike, just touched hands down on landing) while Parker opened with an electrifying double front Arabian and closed with a very nice double pike but just landed a body drop element over the boundary line during a side tumbling pass despite trying to compensate at the end (pulled knees in, resulting in a form/execution deduction as well).

Based upon some of the results from Sunday’s practice, here is the projected line-up on each event in no specific start or finish order, including alternates that will likely warm up and may exhibit:

Uneven Bars: Sarah DeMeo, Becca Alexin, Kaitlyn Clark, Kim Jacob, Ashley Sledge, Ashley Priess, Carley Sims, Brooke Parker

Vault: Kim Jacob, Kaitlyn Clark, Lauren Beers, Kayla Williams, Marissa Gutierrez, Diandra Milliner, Ashley Sledge, Carley Sims, Ria Domier.

Floor Exercise: Lauren Beers, Brooke Parker, Kaitlyn Clark, Kim Jacob, Diandra Milliner, Sarah DeMeo, Marissa Gutierrez, Ashley Sledge, Lora Leigh Frost, Ashley Priess.

Balance Beam: Marissa Gutierrez, Diandra Milliner, Kayla Williams, Kaitlyn Clark, Ashley Priess, Kim Jacob, Sarah DeMeo, Lauren Beers.

GymTide.com will have full radio and online commentary coverage for the Missouri meet.

Roll Tide!

The Alabama Gymnastics Team entertained fans in Coleman Coliseum earlier today for about one hour in a “mock meet” rehearsal on uneven bars and balance beam to help prepare for their opening contest on January 11, 2013, at Missouri.  The team then invited the partisan crowd to follow them back into the practice facility for the remaining two hours of practice, which included all four events. We will have a more detailed report from the upcoming 1/6/13 open practice that should give us a better glimpse of the expected meet line-ups for Missouri. Here are a few brief observations from today’s mock meet:

Note: Junior All American Sarah DeMeo was held out of practice as she recovers from a bout of flu but could be back in the gym as early as Friday.

Balance Beam – as reported on 12/27/12, this is where the Tide has impressive quality depth for 2013 , along with vault and floor, and it was exciting to see Bama’s vets - Priess, Jacob, Gutierrez, Clark, Williams, Milliner and Fowler - rock this event during the mock meet with confidence and aggression.

Senior Ashley Sledge, sophomore Brooke Parker and freshmen Carley Sims and Lauren Beers were especially confident and aggressive in their 15 minute extended beam warm-ups but experienced a few glitches during the mock meet that provided Sarah Patterson the perfect opportunity to do some intensive “mental coaching” with them on the sideline before putting them back up there at the end to redo their routines. 

Redshirt sophomore Olivia Carisella has come a long way in her recovery from injury two years ago and was receiving extra coaching on her flight and leap elements (front aerial to bhs, switch split leap to straddle jump), with nice results.  

Uneven Bars – during the mock meet, solid routine workouts, including dismounts, were thrown by Jacob, Beers, Clark, Priess, Sledge, Alexin, Milliner, Parker and Sims.  At this point the Tide is looking pretty strong with big release elements ready to compete by Jacob (Ray), Beers (Ray and Pak salto), Clark (Ray), Sledge (Gienger), Priess (Tkatchev to Pak Salto, Khorkina), Sims (Tkatchev), Milliner and Parker (straddle Jaeger) and Alexin (Shaposhnikova to Pak Salto).  If DeMeo is able to get the necessary reps in to be “meet ready”, that will add another Jaeger release.  We expect to see double layouts at this first meet by Clark and DeMeo (full-twisting DLO in recent intrasquad meets) and by Jacob, Sledge and Priess, while Milliner, Sims and Alexin will likely start off dismounting with a double tuck (giant full turn leading into this final element).  Parker has been training a tuck full-in dismount consistently in Fall practice. Beers will dismount with a double front.

01/03/2013 Practice:
…Brooke Parker on balance beam…more[+]

01/03/2013 Practice:
…Kim Jacob on floor exercise…more[+]

01/03/2013 Practice:
…Ria Domier on floor exercise…more[+]

01/03/2013 Practice:
…Sarah DeMeo on floor exercise…more[+]

The Alabama Crimson Tide returned to campus today to resume practices in preparation for their opening meet on January 11, 2013, at Columbia, Missouri.  We will be checking in with the team over the next week to see how they are progressing as the coaches begin to finalize line-ups on each event. We hope to have a more detailed report sometime around the evening of January 3rd following a rehearsal or “mock” meet in Coleman Coliseum.  For now, let’s look back on some recent practices and consider potential line-ups on each event for the opening meet at Missouri, along with skills that the team is preparing to compete.  Keep in mind that these “crystal ball” line-ups are just educated guesses and that real-life elements like flu, injuries, etc. could impact the final line-ups for the Tide as we get closer to meet time.

Vault: This event, along with floor and balance beam, is where the Tide has their most impressive depth.  Returning 1st Team All Americans Ashley Sledge, Marissa Gutierrez and Diandra Milliner will anchor the line-up in some combination.  Kayla Williams is back to training her Y 1.5 and is expected to secure a spot.  Freshman Lauren Beers has been solid with her Y 1/1 and 1.5 vaults in Fall training and is challenging for one of the remaining spots, along with Carley Sims and Kaitlyn Clark.  5th year senior Ashley Priess, Sarah DeMeo and Kim Jacob, along with Hunter Dennis, Ria Domier and Lora Leigh Frost will provide quality depth for the coaches to consider.  Dennis (Hristakieva) and Domier (Pike 1/2) bring different “10″ vault options to the table as well.  A projected vault line-up for the Missouri meet:

1. Kaitlyn Clark 2. Ashley Sledge 3. Lauren Beers 4. Kayla Williams 5. Marissa Gutierrez 6. Diandra Milliner  Alternate: Carley Sims

Uneven Bars: Alabama’s coaches have challenged the team in the off-season to train bigger release moves and dismounts to improve their scoring output and quality depth on this event for 2013.  Ashley Priess will once again anchor the Tide on bars (Tkatchev and Khorkina release moves) and we should see senior Ashley Sledge finally move into the fifth position to help set her and Priess up for the bigger scores at the end.  Kim Jacob has been looking super confident in Fall training with her Ray release and her double layout dismount, while Kaitlyn Clark has added her Ray release back as well and will be dismounting once again with the full twisting double layout.  Sarah DeMeo also has been consistently training a full twisting double layout dismount and will likely open this event for the Tide.  Look for Diandra Milliner (Arabian double front dismount), Carley Sims (Tkatchev, tuck full-in dismount), Lauren Beers (Ray release, double layout dismount) and Becca Alexin (Shaposh to immediate pak salto, tuck full in dismount) to battle for the remaining spot.  Kayla Williams, Brooke Parker and Lindsay Fowler are nipping at their heels but will need more time to refine their elements in order to be “meet ready” with potentially high scoring routines.  A projected uneven bars line-up for the Missouri meet:

1. Sarah DeMeo 2. Becca Alexin 3. Kaitlyn Clark  4. Kim Jacob 5. Ashley Sledge 6. Ashley Priess  Alternate: Lauren Beers

Balance Beam: For the past two post-season championship marches, Alabama has been the personification of what a ”beam team” is all about – whether they have started a meet on beam or finished on it, they seem to relish the challenge.  Bama’s junior class leaders – Sarah DeMeo, Kim Jacob and Diandra Milliner – have set a tone of confidence on balance beam since their arrival and are expected to once again pace the line-up with senior Ashley Priess in the anchor spot. Kayla Williams proved her mettle as a freshman on beam during the post-season title run in 2012 and will likely secure a position once again in 2013 based on Fall training. The final spot and 2-3 alternate spots will be closely challenged in the practice gym and during actual meets once the season gets underway.  Several Tide gymnasts are training E dismounts off beam, including: Carley Sims (double tuck), Kaitlyn Clark (double pike), Brooke Parker (double pike), Lauren Beers (double tuck), Sarah DeMeo (double pike).  Jacob has added another flight element to her routine (bhs to loso, loso) while Priess was spotted throwing a full twisting bhs and a side aerial.  DeMeo has resumed the bhs to loso to back pike flight series. Seniors Gutierrez and Sledge will definitely challenge for line-up spots as well.  Gutierrez has increased her difficulty (front aerial to bhs and has added a gainer back loso) and Sledge is throwing a one arm bhs to loso flight series.  Bama’s coaches are liking their chances to field six or more routines that are consistently capable of hitting that 9.90 or higher score in 2013.  A projected balance beam line-up for the Missouri meet:

1. Kayla Williams 2. Diandra Milliner 3. Kaitlyn Clark 4. Kim Jacob 5. Sarah DeMeo 6. Ashley Priess Alternate: Marissa Gutierrez, Ashley Sledge 

Floor Exercise: Quality depth on this final event is making it hard to choose a line-up but the coaches will persevere by opting for consistency and big opening and closing tumbling elements. Tide fans should have a chance to start seeing some new faces that have challenged themselves in the off-season in order to make the floor line-up in 2013.  This includes Sarah DeMeo (double front Arabian to open, 2 1/2 twist, double pike to close), Kayla Williams (double layout to open/double pike to close), Kaitlyn Clark (double front Arabian, front 1/1 to front layout, double pike) and Brooke Parker (double front Arabian, tuck full-in, double pike).  Marissa Gutierrez, Ashley Sledge, Carley Sims, Lauren Beers and Lora Leigh Frost will open with double layouts/close with double pikes while Kim Jacob will open with a pike full-in, is now throwing a round off to 1.5 twist to a punch Rudi as her second pass and will close with a double pike. Diandra Milliner will open with a double front Arabian, is training a pike full-in as a second pass and will close with a double pike.  Milliner will also keep the second pass of a front 1/1 to front layout in reserve for the opening half of a long season. Ria Domier has rehabbed from her 2010 injury and is once again opening with a front double tuck/double pike to close and Hunter Dennis will open again with a tuck full in/double pike to close.  Priess will likely open again with a double tuck, round off to 1.5 twist to front layout and close with a double pike. We will try to obtain more information on Lindsay Fowler’s floor routine elements in the next two weeks.  Floor is a hard event to predict an early line-up for, so let’s go with the following in some combination for the Missouri meet:

1. Kim Jacob 2. Ashley Sledge 3. Lora Leigh Frost 4. Diandra Milliner 5. Marissa Gutierrez 6. Ashley Priess  Alternates: Sarah DeMeo, Kayla Williams, Carley Sims

The Alabama Gymnastics Team has been officially practicing for approximately eight weeks and will soon move into the final phase of the fall preseason, namely fine-tuning routines and establishing line-ups through intrasquad competitions over the next two weeks leading into final exams and the Christmas holiday break.  Here are some observations from recent practices and intrasquad performances on balance beam and uneven bars.

Injury Report: Freshman Kaitlyn Clark is doing very well with her rehab from clean-up surgery back in September and is expected to compete this season.  She participated in the intrasquad last week on the uneven bars and has about half of her balance beam routine back.  Sophomore Olivia Carisella is rehabbing from an achilles injury and will red-shirt in 2012.  Sophomore Ria Domier was working out on vault and floor without a brace or any other noticeable bandage/supports and looks to be fully recovered from an ACL injury suffered in December 2010.  Senior Rachel Terry was working on the uneven bars but did not participate in the intrasquad, as she is still rehabbing from off-season clean up surgery. 

Freshmen

Kayla Williams will likely be active in the all-around for the Crimson Tide in 2012. She exhibited a complete and confident routine at the Ghosts vs Goblins on balance beam on 10/23 and will vault a Yurchenko 1.5.  Her elements on beam include: leap onto the beam to immediate switch side straddle leap, bhs to loso, punch front (tuck) to flutter jump, flutter jump to straddle 1/1, dismount of a round off to 1 1/2 twist.  On uneven bars her elements include a toe on-toe off on the high bar to pak salto, toe-shoot straddle from low to high bar, full turn to Tkatchev, double layout dismount. On floor exercise Kayla will open with a double layout and close with a double pike.  During the beam intrasquad on 11/20 she led off and once again nailed her routine with only a small hop on the dismount landing.  It was impressive that Kayla, despite being under the weather,  still went through all of her reps on this date.  Her ailment seemed to catch up with her during her workout on the uneven bars, as she struggled with reaching vertical on her handstands that came at the end of her routine reps.  

Brooke Parker is affectionately nick-named “Flea” by her coaches and teammates. She vaults a Yurchenko 1/1 and throws a double front Arabian on floor to immediate stag leap out, a round off to 1 1/2 twist to front tuck as well as a double pike.  On the balance beam she is throwing a front aerial to back tuck, switch split to pike jump, bhs to loso flight series and a double pike dismount. Brooke was also working a pike Jaeger on the uneven bars and two different dismounts – a tuck full in and a double pike. 

Kaitlyn Clark was able to throw a very solid uneven bars routine during the 11/20 intrasquad, which included a toe on-toe off to Shaposhnikova back to handstand on the low bar and a double layout dismount (full twisting double layout reps were also thrown earlier during extended warm-ups).  She is also working Tkatchev and Hindorff release moves.  On vault she will throw a Yurchenko 1/1 or 1.5 and on floor she opens with a double front Arabian and will close with a double pike.  On balance beam she has really nice leaps (switch split leap had excellent amplitude and stretch) along with a front aerial kick out to flutter jump, bhs to loso, switch split leap to side straddle jump as well.

Lora “Leigh” Frost has caught the coaches’ eyes with her strong work ethic in the gym and the fact that she tumbles a very confident double layout on floor along with a punch front 1/1 to front layout, a double pike and double tuck. Choreo and music have already been blocked out by Dana Duckworth and word up is that Leigh has a strong chance to be in the floor line-up at the beginning of the season if she keeps progressing.  Vault will be a Yurchenko 1/1 (still needs polishing on the form and foot position along with amplitude and landing).  Balance beam is still a work in progress as well but Frost is showing some nice elements on this event - bhs to loso, front aerial kick out to flutter jump, switch split leap to straddle jump, flutter jump to tuck 1/1, gainer full twist off the side of the beam.   

Sophomores

Kimberly Jacob is once again in fantastic shape heading into the final weeks of the fall pre-season training and is arguably the most consistent balance beam worker the Tide has ever had on its roster.  Her practice reps are like a walk in the park.  Kim’s All-American beam routine remains the same for 2012.  She appears to have improved her blocking and twisting technique on vault, resulting in better form and amplitude (Yurchenko 1/1).  Kim also looks very solid on floor with the pike full-in reps that we observed and she has new music for 2012 that the crowd should find very appealing.  Kim will dismount floor with a double pike.  On uneven bars, Kim is working a Hindorff release and handstands are more fluid and vertical. Dismount will be a double layout.

Sarah DeMeo was overall pretty solid on balance beam but had one form break on a full turn. She also has some new choreo on beam but the rest of her routine remains the same, including the double pike dismount. On uneven bars, her pike Jaeger in warm-up reps was looking excellent but she hit her heels during the intrasquad competition; she kept going and finished the routine.  Sarah is working a double front Arabian on floor, 2 1/2 twist to possibly a front tuck or layout and a double pike.  Her vault will continue to be the Yurchenko 1/1.

Diandra Milliner has a new mount onto the balance beam but will keep her same tumbling and leap elements from 2011. On the uneven bars she is now dismounting with a double front and did a terrific routine during the 11/20 intrasquad, which included a super landing on her final element. The talented sophomore will once again help anchor the vault rotation with a Yurchenko 1.5 (looked consistently solid during this extended practice) and will have some new choreo on floor with a few variations in her music for 2012 as well.

Hannah Toussaint  threw pretty consistent reps on the balance beam and floor.  She has the same elements in her beam routine and will keep the same music on floor but will add a double pike to her tumbling runs.  Toussaint has an excellent chance to factor in the beam and floor rotations early on if she can build consistency in performing under pressure.

Lindsay Fowler was working her floor routine to a techno and Latino beat. She will tumble a Rudi through to a layout stepout, a front-front to front 1/1 and will close with a Rudi. Fowler also competed in the intrasquad on balance beam and had a couple of glitches that will require more reps to build her confidence (fell on the second element of her front aerial to back loso). On uneven bars, Lindsay is working a Jaeger release and a double front dismount.

Ria Domier had several nice vault runs (very fast, fluid pace) with her front pike 1/2.  On floor she is still working on choreo and building up her tumbling passes to a level that will score well for the Tide.

Juniors

Marissa Gutierrez did most of her reps on balance beam and vault and polished up her floor choreo and tumbling during the 11/20 intrasquad and practice (will keep the same music but has a few new dance elements).  Guti was showing better amplitude on her front aerial to pike jump combination and better stretch on the switch split leap to side straddle jump combo as well.

Ashley Sledge is serving notice early that she wants to compete in the all-around for the Tide in 2012. This means she has to present consistent balance beam reps to the coaches, especially during intrasquads! And she delivered with a pretty solid routine on this date.  She has worked hard in the preseason on  her switch split leap to side straddle jump and switch split to pike jump combinations.  She will dismount with a round off to full twist off the side of the beam.  On floor Ashley is training a double layout to open and a double pike to close.  She will vault the Yurchenko 1/1 again in 2012.

Becca Alexin completed a solid uneven bars routine during this intrasquad (working on a double layout dismount) and was also completing her reps on balance beam and floor exercise. Tumbling consistency on these latter events remains her biggest challenge to break into the line-up, as Becca has the lines and toe-point/extension and form that the judges love to reward.

Seniors

Ashley Priess did her full routine on balance beam, including the return of the full twisting back handspring swing down and she also threw a new dismount – a side aerial to immediate full twist combination. On uneven bars her routine during the intrasquad included a toe on toe off, Tkatchev to pak salto combination and a double layout dismount (small hop on landing).  Ashley is training all four events with the expectation of returning to the all around in 2012. 

Geralen Stack-Eaton looked in excellent pre-season form on bars, beam and vault during the 11/20 intrasquad. Her Arabian double front was a little scary to behold at the end of her bar routine (rotated back towards the bar a bit) but she landed it with a step to the side under the watchful eye of Coach Raschilla.  The Ray release to pak salto combination looked really nice. Her beam routine remains the same for 2012.

Additional reports will come between December 5th and January 8th, 2012. Roll Tide!