Roll Tide from Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa!

Vault: 1st – Kayla Williams, Lauren Beers

Uneven Bars: 1st – Ashley Sledge

Balance Beam: 1st – Taylor Spears (Oklahoma)

Floor Exercise: 1st – Lauren Beers and Kim Jacob

All Around: 1st Taylor Spears (Oklahoma)  

#4 Alabama pulls off a huge victory over the #1 Oklahoma Sooners despite not being at their best on their best event, balance beam, but Coach is happy that the team is improving and the freshmen are stepping up in the absence of senior Marissa Gutierrez, who hopefully will be back in the post-season (she was doing vault run timers tonight and beam elements as well).  Coach wants all fans to please show up for the Regional Championship on April 6th – the Tide really needs our home crowd to help us secure one of the top two spots in order to qualify to NCAAs in Los Angeles – it is NOT a guarantee – Bama needs you to show up!

Marissa Gutierrez is being interviewed by the radio crew – she is taking it slow so she can return 100% – listening to her coaches! Wants to be out there on vault and floor for the Tide in the post-season – Bama would arguably have scored over a 49.6 on vault and floor tonight with her out there.

Freshman Lauren Beers scored a 9.825 on bars, 9.95 on vault and 9.90 on floor – she is gaining in confidence each week.  Carley Sims exhibited on vault (9.80) and bars (9.775) successfully tonight as well.  Kudos also to junior Ria Domier for a nifty looking pike 1/2 twist vault for a 9.75.

Seniors led the way and looked great out there as well – Becca Alexin with a 9.85 on bars, Ashley Sledge a career high 9.95 on this same event to open for the Tide, Ashley Priess with a 9.875 (Tkatchev and Khorkina release moves thrown) and on floor and balance beam - a 9.875 as well. What a warrior the 5th year senior has proven to be for the Tide!

Ashley Priess – controlled step back on the double tuck to open – 1.5 to front layout – nice control – double twisting tuck jump – closes with a strong double pike – crowd shows their appreciation for the 5th year senior. 9.875

Ashley Sledge – sassy new choreo near the end of her routine to get the crowd more involved - tuck through to bhs to double tuck to open – controlled step back - double pike to close – slide step back - excellent routine. 9.875

Lauren Beers – double layout to open – landed forward a bit but she quickly moves into her dance pose – switch ring leap to split 1/2 to cat leap 1/1 - front-front to front 1/1 – finishes strongly with a chest high landing of her double tuck.  Crowd roars.  9.900

Sarah DeMeo – high double front Arabian to open - small hop to the side on landing - double stag leap out of it – really nice second pass – 1.5 to front layout – 2.5 twist to close out – sky high! 9.875

Kim Jacob – pike full in to open – double pike – closes with a 1.5 to front 1/1 – excellent.  9.90

Diandra Milliner – stumbles back on the landing of her double front Arabian – no problems with the second pass – closes with a double pike – check step forward on landing – going for the stick cost her. 9.775

Exhibit: Lora Frost – double layout to open – lands it chest high this week – front punch 1/1 to front layout – closes with a double tuck – check step to the side on landing – good job! 9.775

Oklahoma: Balance Beam

Madison Mooring – bhs to loso – beautiful extension and form – front aerial – balance check turn to the side – wobbles just a bit more to resteady herself – switch split leap to side straddle jump – full turn – bhs to bhs to 1.5 twist – small hop forward on landing. 9.75

Lauren Alexander – switch split leap to side straddle jump – bent at the shoulder at bit on take off – front aerial – to back tuck – nice control – leg scale and planche move on beam – ring leap – small check – full turn – gainer back pike – one step back on landing. Really pretty toe point and extension throughout. 9.90

Rebecca Clark – front aerial to Korbut – split jump – full turn – beat jump to sheep jump – leg scale pose – side somi – 1.5 twist – a little split in the legs but she holds tight on the landing by bending forward a bit as well at the waist. Very deliberate in all of her moves. 9.90

Brie Olson – small break at the waist on landing the back pike (flight series) but she pulls it back up – side aerial to gainer full twist – sticks the landing! 9.825

Erica Brewer – solid flight series – attacks that beam! 9.875

Taylor Spears – front aerial to Korbut – front aerial to beat jump – full turn – bhs to gainer full twist dismount – stuck. 9.95  – she had really nice form, toe point, extension throughout.

Diandra Milliner – solid routine – sticks the dismount of the double twist. 9.875

Kaitlyn Clark – a strong routine as well – one small step on the 1.5 twist dismount. 9.800

Kayla Williams – balance check on the flight series and another small one after the full turn – small check step on landing of her 1.5 twist. 9.650

Sarah DeMeo – balance check turn 1/4 on the flight series last element – no bending at the waist fortunately but she wobbles a bit at the waist – one small check step on the double pike dismount. 9.70 – ouch

Kim Jacob – great routine – tiny hop in place on dismount of the 1.5 twist. 9.90

Ashley Priess – great routine – bounce hop on landing of the switch split leap to gainer full twist dismount was the only obvious deduction. 9.875

Exhibit: Lauren Beers – balance check on the landing of the back pike (flight series) - nice confidence shown with the punch front tuck to beat jump – 9.75 – growing more confident!

 Oklahoma: Floor

Lara Albright – double front twist to open – a little loose in form and stumbled forward a bit to control it – front tumbling on her second pass as well was close to the boundary line – barrel leap – Rudi to close -9.825

Taylor Spears – front double full – pretty form and controlled step into the corner – 1.5 to front layout – Rudi to close. Nice routine! 9.85

Erica Brewer – clean double tuck to open – check step backwards on the front handspring to punch front 1/1 – low landing forward on the double pike but she does not touch down. 9.750

Madison Mooring – Rudi layout stepout to open – double pike to close but touches down forward on the mat -9.325

Brie Olson – aggressive double pike to open – sassy dance and music – closes with a Rudi – 9.85

Haley Scaman – double layout to open – Rudi to layout stepout – switch split leap to straddle Popa – double tuck – step forward on the landing. 9.875

Alabama has a commanding lead over the visiting Sooners but they now rotate to the most difficult event, balance beam – where they will need to be confident and aggressive in executing their routines. No time for being tentative – go for it!

Oklahoma struggled on vault with a few landing problems, limited amplitude and distance, and the judges hit hard in response.  They are now on one of their best events – floor exercise. Look for extra showmanship to get the highest score possible.

Ashley Sledge – great routine – legs separated on stuck landing of the double layout dismount. 9.95

Becca Alexin -really nice routine – small hop back on the double tuck flyaway. 9.85

Lauren Beers – step back on the double front dismount – just missed vertical on that final handstand – nice shaposh to pak salto combination. 9.825

Kaitlyn Clark – strong routine from the sophomore – toe on toe off to shaposh – toe on toe off on the high bar – stuck double layout dismount. 9.85

Sarah DeMeo – pretty routine – missed perfect vertical on handstand right after the straddle Jaeger – beautiful bail to handstand – stuck double layout – big grin on her face at the end! 9.900

Ashley Priess -great routine – Tkatchev to pak salto – Khorkina release – just missed sticking that double layout dismount - check step on landing -  - 9.875

Exhibit: Kim Jacob – 9.90 and a 9.70 – judges saw this routine dramatically different – Ray release – stuck the double layout chest high.

Exhibit: Carley Sims – 9.80 – full twisting double tuck dismount – bends forward at the waist to hold it but has to take a step – Tkatchev had nice amplitude but toes need extra effort in pointing. Very nice pirouetting. Handstands solid.

Oklahoma: Vault

Erica Brewer – Y 1/1 – solid form in the air – limited amplitude however - hop back on landing. 9.725

Taylor Spears – Y 1/1 – hop back – good form – 9.825

Madison Mooring – Hristakieva – floats in the air but she takes two steps back towards the vault on landing. 9.75

Maile’ana Kanewa – Y 1/1 – controlled hop back on landing – pretty form in the air – 9.875

Haley Scaman – Y 1.5 – jarred landing – step forward – good distance – 9.875

Brie Olson -9.75 – Y 1/1 – jarred the landing -

Teams are being introduced – Oklahoma first and now the Alabama Crimson Tide. It’s Senior Night, so the coaches will acknowledge Alabama’s four seniors and Oklahoma’s as well with flowers before the meet begins. Tears flowing in the house. 

Fashion Report! Alabama is wearing a deep crimson shiny leo with white ribbons swirling on the front and back and lots of silver sequins winking throughout.  Oklahoma is wearing a ruby red leo with contrasting criss-cross white lines on the bodice and back areas – white piping on the collar line.

Kayla Williams – Y 1/1 – 2009 World Vault Champion – she scored a 9.975 last week at LSU.  This one was better – 9.950 

Ashley Sledge – Y 1/1 – good distance – hop back on landing however. 9.850

Kim Jacob – Y 1/1 – slide step and then turns to salute the judges with another step. Legs separated in the air. 9.775

Lauren Beers – Y 1/1 – stuck!  9.950

Kaitlyn Clark – Y 1/1 – small shift of one foot – landed chest high - 9.850

Diandra Milliner – Y 1.5 – huge – stuck. 9.925 – took off for some form problems mid-air no doubt.

Exhibit: Carley Sims – Y 1/1 – 9.800   

Exhibit: Ria Domier – Pike 1/2 – 9.75 – chest down, step back.

Oklahoma: Uneven Bars

Rebecca Clark – shaposh – went past vertical at one point but finishes well – double tuck – 9.775

Haley Scaman – tuck full in dismount – rocks it! 9.875

Hayden Ward – double tuck dismount – small hop on landing – clean routine otherwise! 9.85

Erica Brewer – double layout dismount – works hard to hold the landing by bending forward at the waist a bit. Tkatchev release (very close to the bars) - nice handstands! 9.725

Brie Olson – full twisting double layout – step back on landing. Missed a handstand near the end of her routine pretty obviously. 9.875

Taylor Spears – 9.825 – pretty form, nice handstands – but a big hop forward on the Arabian double front dismount landing.

Alabama and Oklahoma are winding down the season in style tonight by battling here in Coleman Coliseum in a dual meet before hopefully a sell-out crowd of 15,000 of the Tide’s most passionate fans.   The top-ranked Sooners have been the most consistent team this season in their performances week in and week out – that’s both at home in Norman and on the road.  So tonight they enter this contest with great confidence and expect to finish off an undefeated season with a victory over one of the top teams they must beat head-to-head in six weeks – the Alabama Crimson Tide.  Only Alabama, Georgia, UCLA and Utah have won the National Title and the Sooners believe this is their year.  But first, let’s see how they do tonight against a Tide team that is emerging with greater confidence of their own after a month of performances of 197 or higher team scoring.

Tonight more than any point earlier in the season – it is imperative that Alabama start off red hot on the vault and uneven bars by sticking their landings.  Alabama’s vaults are bigger in the air but the judges are looking for that final controlled stick to garner the higher score.  Oklahoma prides itself on the stuck landing – even if they sacrifice a few inches in distance from the table to secure it.  So Bama must put the pressure on them immediately with six stuck routines.  Because Oklahoma will respond with six bar routines with clean form and stuck landings of their own. 

Now, Alabama and Oklahoma closely mirror each other on the balance beam with their confident execution of some difficult tumbling and leap elements, so the key to victory is the same this week - attack the beam and don’t be tentative.  You must be aggressive to be impressive – this means point those toes on the leaps, go for the maximum amplitude on your saltos and stick the landings.

Alabama may arguably have greater difficulty on the floor exercise but Oklahoma has terrific tumbling and showmanship in their routines, so they will try and set a high score on this event while Alabama is focusing on their beam execution.  The judges will have something to compare when Alabama comes to the floor in the fourth rotation, and vice versa when the Sooners rotate to the beam for their final event. 

Both teams have great coaches and talented, aggressive student-athletes performing here tonight. The path to victory could come down to the last routine of the last event.  Sounds like the NCAA championships – perhaps a prequel? 

Roll Tide!

Nice high blocking on the vault table just then from Marissa Gutierrez, under the watchful eyes of David Patterson and the student manager.

Snazzy, jazzy floor music from Oklahoma.

Bama moves to the floor for the final warm-up as the Sooners move to the balance beam.  Sooner fans (about 10) are in the house right behind us - they brought their silver and ruby red pom poms to shake.

Priess going first on floor? Last week the coaches fooled us with the order of the music, so we’ll have to wait and see.  Sledge is second in the warm-up order so far.  Lauren Beers next. DeMeo, Milliner and Jacob. Also warming up on floor: Parker, Frost.

Alabama and Oklahoma are less than one hour away from battling in a dual meet here in Coleman Coliseum. It is Senior Night for Becca Alexin, Marissa Gutierrez, Ashley Sledge and 5th year senior, Ashley Priess.

Alabama has completed their first two extended warm-ups on vault and bars and are now on beam while the Sooners are on the floor.

The Sooners will be without freshman Keeley Kmieciak tonight, who is recovering from tonsils surgery (by report).

Alabama will be without senior Marissa Gutierrez for at least another week but she is now do vaulting timers in front of us (with about 3 thick mats to fall back on) and she has been doing some Y 1/1 timers into the pits back in the practice gym.  She warmed up on beam earlier – her right ankle is wrapped.