The Alabama Crimson Tide swept all four events and the all around:

All Around: Kim Jacob – 39.275

Vault: Diandra Milliner  – 9.925

Uneven Bars: Sarah DeMeo – 9.900

Balance Beam: Sarah DeMeo and Kim Jacob  – 9.900

Floor Exercise: Kim Jacob – 9.875

A solid, impressive opening score for the Tide, which had a ton of new faces out there tonight on several events and had some successes and yet some areas to clean up.  This is why the coaches needed that baseline – to see where everyone is and what they need to work on back in the gym over the next week to prepare for a tough LSU Tiger team at home in Coleman Coliseum. 

Coach Patterson noted that some vets were not warming up crisply and were replaced in the line-up – this also sends a message that the coaches will not risk an injury if the “vault is not there” or the element on bars or floor is not there - and this also should help them return to the practice gym with determination to correct their technique so that these routines will be there in the next meet. 

Coach Patterson noted in her interview here that the gymnasts on the floor exercise tonight have been ready and most consistent in practice. The others will have to earn their spot out there – to win at this level, they have to be pushed – and she feels that tonight this definitely happened.  Freshmen tonight had 3 routines they competed and each routine had problems – this is how they come to understand what the coaches have been preparing them to expect all during Fall training.  Coach feels Beers and Sims can have stellar routines on the floor and elsewhere, but they will need to continue training (and conditioning) hard to earn those spots.  Nothing is assumed or given without hitting in the practice gym and then during the 15 and 3 minute warm-ups.

Kaitlyn Clark on the beam (exhibition) has been training super well but coaches wanted her to get one exhibition rep under her belt in front of a large crowd, and she did well.  This is a routine they are banking on – coach expects it will be out in front of the home crowd next week.

The Missouri Tigers had a rough welcome into the SEC by their performance tonight but they are suffering from several injuries, one just experienced earlier this week in training, so they will hopefully be able to heal some of their athletes and make a better show of it later in the season.

We will be back live from Coleman Coliseum next Friday against the LSU Tigers. See you there Bama Nation!

Marissa Gutierrez – a little tentative in executing her elements here and there – bends at the waist on the second element of the beat jump to gainer back loso - solid dismount.  9.775

Diandra Milliner – front aerial to beat jump – front wolf kick over – looking good so far – bhs to loso - excellent – switch split leap to straddle jump – slight shoulder shift – double twist dismount – small scoot back on landing. 9.800

Kayla Williams – a little trouble on the front punch – balance check – completes the beat jump out of it to the Korbut (back straddle dive down onto the beam) – solid flight series – dismounts with a 1.5 twist - one jammed foot check back - 9.775 – not her usual smooth, confident set, hence the score.

Sarah DeMeo – front handspring onto the beam – double stag leap – front aerial to beat jump – bhs to loso – perfect! full turn – switch split leap to split leap – gainer full twist dismount – stuck.  Great routine! 9.90

Ashley Priess - beat jump to sheep jump – front aerial (bailed on Korbut out of it) – executes this series later without any problem – then encounters problems on pulling the new Khorkina skill all the way around, so that will be a deduction – full turn (leg horizontal) to switch split leap to gainer full twist, step on landing.  9.750

Kim Jacob – v press straddle to a back bend pose on the beam – switch split 1/2 jump – bhs to lo to lo – very nice! – Straddle 1/1 – full turn – barani – nice – dismounts with a round off to 1.5 twist – perfect landing – should score well!  9.900

Exhibition: Kaitlyn Clark – a few balance checks but all elements executed without a major problem. 

 Missouri: Floor Exercise: 48.700

Taylor Madrea -  9.650

Cat Aliceaacosta -  9.350

Kate Trevino – 9.800

Tori Howard – 9.825

Briana Conkle – 9.675

Sandra Ostad – 9.750

Lauren Beers – opens with a double tuck – no problems – very dramatic music and dance – second pass of a front handspring – front layout to a full 1/1 twist – just off center a bit into that corner and works hard to keep from going past that line – switch split leap to split full combo – closes with a double pike but crunches the landing at the knees a bit, so that will be at least 2/10ths deduction.  You really need to see that final pass land with precision, chest up for maximum scoring.  9.65

Kaitlyn Clark – opens with a solid double tuck – chest high landing, one step back – ring leap to wolf full – second pass – 1.5 twist to a front layout – a little off direction from that corner and off balance a bit – she closes with a double pike, check step forward - legs split in air and on landing but she stands it up -  9.675

Brooke Parker – opens with a double front Arabian – nice landing – 1.5 to front layout – two tiny bunny hops forward – middle tumbling pass – keeps it in bounds tonight – crisp double pike to close – Brooke’s technique is unique with her tumbling passes – she runs forward and does one round off into the double pike and the double front Arabian – no back handsprings in her routine.  9.825 – that is a career high for her on this event. Leaps need to show greater split and amplitude, toe point/extension.

Kim Jacob – double pike to open – perfect second pass of a round off to 1.5 twist through to a punch front 1/1 twist - nailed that landing cold.  Jazzy dance – closes with a round off to 1.5 to front layout – another strong pass and landing.  Hopefully we will see the pike full-in next week against LSU at home.  9.875

Sarah DeMeo – new music - excellent double pike to open – ring leap to split full combo – 1.5 to front layout – nice position into the corner to our left – closes with a 2 1/2 twist - excellent control on the landing as well and form in the air was really nice -  9.850 – really nice dance and presentation.

Diandra Milliner – super double front Arabian to open – front handspring to front layout to front 1/1 twist – new music this year and dance, that she seems comfortable with and sells well here tonight  - solid, high double pike to close, just a little jam on landing - 9.850 – dance moves are a little repetitive at spots but she sold it well.

Carley Sims – solid opening double tuck – sassy dance time! nails the second pass – front handspring to 1/1 twist to front layout (no movement) – closes with a double pike – holds the position too long in the air and crunches her ankles/falling forward and touching down on landing.  What a great routine up until that point.

Missouri: Balance Beam:

Laura Kappler – completed her routine without major deductions. 9.725

Taylor Medrea – a little tentative in executing her elements – trying to stay on to hit the big score – dismounts with a running Rudi, step to the side.  9.425

Mac McGill – handstand to bhs to lo to lo (fell on lass element) – exciting difficulty! split jump to double staff leap – round off to full twist dismount. 9.075

Rachel Updike – nice flight series – split leap to split 3/4 combo – gainer full twist off the side. Pretty form throughout. 9.85

Tori Howard – bhs to lo (fell on second element) – breaks at the waist on another element – dismounts with a running 1.5 – small hop on landing.  8.625

Briana Conkle – falls on her flight series (final element) – running 1.5 dismount – nice landing! 9.175

Kim Jacob – Y 1/1 -legs split on entry a bit – good twisting in the air – small step back on landing. 9.800

Kaitlyn Clark – Y 1/1 – wow, very nice form in the air and solid landing, small check – 9.825 – that vault needed a little more separation in score from Kim’s.

Lauren Beers – Y 1.5 – ended up bailing and did a Y layout instead, hop back – obviously it did not feel right off the horse - she had to wait a little longer because of the Missiouri gymnast that fell, so this may have tightened up her nerves a bit.   Arms were bent on the vault table as well. 9.425 (Tide will toss this one out)

Ashley Sledge – Y 1/1 -small scoot to her left on landing – looked very nice in the air – good form and twisting.  9.800 – looked like that could have scored higher but maybe she was not well-centered relative to the vault table.

Marissa Gutierrez – Y 1/1 – great form in the air, excellent distance but took a large step back on landing – well-centered. 9.825

Diandra Milliner – Y 1.5 – nails it!  9.925 – judges found some form deductions during flight.

Exhibit: Ria Domier – Pike 1/2 – nice effort! Good form in the air and on landing she just got her feet slightly on top of each other, chest down a bit as well, so she had to press hard to hold it before saluting the judges.  9.625 – easy to improve upon that with more reps.

Missouri on Uneven Bars:

Sandra Ostad – toe on toe off – Gienger release – double layout dismount – hop forward on landing, chest down.  9.500

Taylor Medrea – has to come off the bar after a kip cast was not strong enough on the giant 1/2 turn – full turn (labored)  – Tkatchev – bails on her dismount and lands and salutes the judges. 7.70

Briana Conkle -nice giant full turn to Gienger – shoot over from high to low bar – double layout – step back on landing. 9.600

Mac McGill – Tkatchev – nice form – giant full to a double pike dismount, step back on landing, chest down a bit as well.

Rachel Updike – Tkatchev – bail to handstand from high to low bar – misses that last handstand – nice tuck full in dismount! Crowd is happy!

Kate Trevino -

Exhibit: Miranda Eubank

Ashley Sledge – solid routine to open - Gienger release – nice handstands – hop in place of the sky-high double layout dismount (chest high).  9.825

Becca Alexin -  nice routine from the senior – hit the handstands, shaposh from low to high bar and the immediate pak salto – giant 1/1 twist to a double tuck flyaway, nice stick.  Legs split a little during shaposh, dismount looks a little close to the bar from another video angle.  9.750

Kim Jacob – solid routine – Ray release – toe on toe off right after to bail to handstand from high to low bar – double layout dismount – tiny step on landing to check. 9.700 – deductions mainly came from missed handstands.

Kaitlyn Clark – Ray release – misses handstands until last one – solid double layout dismount – small check on landing. 9.750. Judges are hitting  hard on the handstands if not right on top. 

Sarah DeMeo – great routine – stuck the double layout dismount – super amplitude and form – nice Jaeger release as well (straddle position). Nice handstand positions as well.  9.900

Ashley Priess – solid routine – toe on toe off to Tkatchev to pak salto – jammed step back on the landing of the double layout dismount. 9.825

Exhibit: Brooke Parker – problems on her mount so she has to jump off and remount – straddle Jaeger – caught close to the high bar – nice bail from high to low bar – tuck full in- jammed landing, big step forward.  Better days ahead.

Missouri: Vault: 48.625

Laura Kappler – Yurchenko layout (9.8 start value) - hop back on landing.  9.60

Sandra Ostad – front pike (9.9 start value) – hop forward on landing. Pretty in the air.  9.75

Katelyn Trevino – Y layout – step back on landing -  9.65

Tori Howard – Arabian 1/2 – one step forward -  9.75

Rachel Updike – Y 1/1 – 9.875 – solid!

Briana Conkle – Y layout – 9.55

Exhibit: Miranda Eubank

Bama is wearing a solid black bodice with hot pink contrasting sleeves and swirls on the front and back of their leo, lots of glittering sequins throughout as well.

Missouri is also wearing a sharp looking black and hot pink leo.  Both teams look elegant!

The Alabama Crimson Tide Gymnastics Program is thrilled to be the first team to welcome the Missouri Tigers into the SEC while also being their competition for the 2013 Pink Out, which is a cause near and dear to Coach Sarah Patterson’s heart. Coach Patterson is also all about expanding interest and attention on the world of collegiate gymnastics, so the inclusion of the Tigers in the SEC is very exciting for her and she is happy to help welcome them in.  But the Crimson Tide coaches are also looking for a solid competition tonight by their team, the 2-time defending NCAA champions.

Tonight the keys to victory will mainly be about establishing a baseline score from which the team and coaches can progress.  Enough practice, its time to compete and see where each of the athletes stands with respect to the events they are slated to go on here tonight. 

Alabama will start out on the uneven bars, which poses their most challenge in 2013 as far as quality depth and the veteran line-up will need to hit their handstands and spot those landings with extra focus to get the team started on a confident note.  Moving to the vault, Alabama should execute their Y 1/1 and three Y 1.5 routines with confidence, but the twisting and form in the air and push off the table must be solid to garner the highest scores possible.

The floor exercise will pose some interesting challenges for the Tide as well, where we will see many new faces.  Staying up and in bounds will of course be the major requirement of all the gymnasts.  FInishing up on balance beam, we expect the Tide will deliver with six solid routines that should see them bring home the victory.  Welcome to the SEC Missouri and Roll Tide Roll!

Missouri has completed their Pink Out breast cancer survisors celebration and the teams are now being introduced to the partisan crowd.  We are happy to hear lots of “Roll Tide Roll” cheers from two sections right down below up and on the right.  

A nice roar just went up for Ashley Sledge, who is from nearby Illinois as well as for Sarah DeMeo, who trained at GAGE here in Missouri under Al and Armyn Fong.

Looks like the Tide will go with the line-up we saw from this past Sunday’s mock meet:

Marissa Gutierrez, Diandra Milliner, Kayla Williams, Sarah DeMeo, Ashley Priess and Kim Jacob, with Kaitlyn Clark in the exhibition position.  This could change during the 3 minute warm-up, but so far the gymnasts are hitting their elements.  Nice stick of the 1.5 twist dismount just then from sophomore Kayla Williams.

Sarah DeMeo wants to do well in front of her home crowd – she is coming off a brief bout of the flu and looks solid so far but likely will hold out the back pike flight element for tonight (she will execute a bhs to lo instead). 

Lauren Beers is getting familiar with the beam and finding it a bit of a tough go – she has lots of difficulty – front punch – bhs to back pike – side Somi – ring leap to switch split leap combination and will be dismounting with a double tuck as the season progresses.  Beautiful execution just then of her ring leap to split leap combo.  The team is now ready to retire to the locker room and engages first in a hearty “Roll Tide Roll” with the good-sized crowd of Tide fans here, mostly parents and relatives, before exiting to our left.  We are twenty minutes away from the opening meet Bama Nation!

Working the floor for the Tide in the 15 minute extended warm-up: Lauren Beers, Kaitlyn Clark, Brooke Parker, Kim Jacob, Sarah DeMeo and Diandra Milliner, with Carley Sims warming up in the 7th and alternate spot.  Ashley Sledge is also warming up in the 8th spot but may be inserted into the line-up. 

Very nice double front Arabian from Diandra Milliner (opening tumbling pass).   Coaches are now huddling to figure out the final floor line-up – looks like some definite shuffling going on – so many new faces – Gutierrez did not warm up floor – she vaulted and will do balance beam, so this was likely a decision to allow a newbie into the line-up on floor in her place for this week.