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The Medalist Club - Gymtide.com
The Booster Organization for the University of Alabama Gymnastics Program
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[ top... ] Bama wins this one [ 9:03 PM, 01/18/02 ] 195.675 to UGA's 195.025. Obviously, lots of nerves as well as some competition fatigue were at work here but that's why they have a meet, to see who has the most guts left over after two hours of fierce fighting. And, to give UGA credit, they have had four meets in 12 days, THREE in 7 days, so hats off to them. And for the Crimson Tide, they are still not throwing all their difficulty on vault, floor and balance beam, but chose instead to showcase some new gymnasts, and to mix up the line up to get everyone much needed experience under intense pressure situations. UA will continue to increase their difficulty on vault, floor and balance beam over the next several weeks to get those scores above a 196. Tide fans need to show up for the Denver meet next Saturday to see the awesome opening activities the Tide puts on this year! Thanks to Rara Russ and the Ten Troupe, as well as all of the fans who came out, all 10,378 of you. Those of you who did not come, you missed a great one!
[ top... ] It sounds like [ 8:58 PM, 01/18/02 ] Sierra Sapunar is going to be just fine, badly bruised by report, walking with an ice pack against her left shin. We don't know about Kinsey Rowe. Andree wins the vault title with a stupendous 9.95, Jeana Rice and Marline Stephens get a 9.875 for second. On the uneven bars: 3rd: 9.875 - UGA's Eileen Diaz and UA's Raegan Tomasek; tie for first goes to UGA's Fritzinger and UA's Andree Pickens 9.90 each. The balance beam is going to: 3rd: 9.775 for Marline Stephens; 2nd: Talya Vexler 9.825 and first goes to Cory Fritzinger for a 9.875. On the floor exercise: 3rd: Sierra Sapunar for a 9.875 and a tie for first to Brion and Tomasek for a 9.90. The all around goes to: 3rd: Cory Fritzinger, 2nd: Marline Stephens, and 3rd: Raegan Tomasek (39.20).
[ top... ] Kristin [ 8:51 PM, 01/18/02 ] just stepped out of bounds on her opening pass and was low on her second pass but finishes the routine like the trooper she is (solid double pike, no steps). Whoooooooosh! That was the air rushing out of this hot, tense arena you just heard. Cory Fritzinger gets a 9.875 on the balance beam. UA will win this one due to not having to count Jeana Rice's fall but it was still a mighty close one. One wonders if the second major week of competition is a little too early for these two great teams to go after each other. Sterner receives a 9.75. Alexa Martinez is up for her exhibiton on floor. She is dnacing to the Godfather theme music and just nailed her opening pass of front two front layouts to a front full. Nice music and choreography.
[ top... ] Jeana Rice just [ 8:48 PM, 01/18/02 ] fell on her foo foo on her second pass and on her third pass as well (Salto just fainted again, get the smelling salts). Too much adrenaline and desire to please the hungry crowd. Bama will need to finish strong with Kristin Sterner. Bair received a 9.75 for her routine. Fritzinger just finished a great routine as well (Jeana Rice receives a 8.70). Kristin is now up (please don't fall!).
[ top... ] Okay, Raegan Tomasek [ 8:45 PM, 01/18/02 ] gets a 9.90 after one judge gives her a 9.85 (?) and the other a 9.95 for an awesomely difficult and technically perfect routine. A little more dance needed in the middle? We can accommodate. Breanne Rutherford receives a 9.575 for her beam routine, perhaps she left out an element because we don't think she fell.
[ top... ] Talya Vexler is up first on the beam [ 8:30 PM, 01/18/02 ] and looks very confident, completing her flight series and leap series with no errors. A nice scale from her with exquisite toe point and extension. She is going to get a great score to open up for the UGA team. The crowd gives her polite applause in response. Lauren is up on the floor with the crowd cheering her on. Vexler gets a 9.825 for her beam routine. Lauren finishes with a nice double tuck and the crowd is really behind her now. Sierra Sapunar is on the beam to the chant of ROLL TIDE ROLL. She remains steady but then falls on her flight series (third element hit hard alongside the beam). The crowd cheers her return to the beam and then she has to stop her routine due to a leg injury apparently (she may have hit a nerve against the beam). Great effort from her, hopefully she will be okay. Stephanie Kite is next on the floor and she is right on with the opening front handspring to 2 1/2 twist, followed by layout, tuck, layout (nice timing on her landing). Final pass is landed solidly and the crowd is on their feet with a roar! Lauren received a 9.80 for her routine and Marline Stephens is now on the beam. Super cool standing back gainer to open her flight series; her leaps are a little tentative but she presses on. Sapunar gets a 7.6. Stephens' flight series is complete and she is going to go ahead and dismount with a nice double tuck. Stephanie Kite gets a 9.80 (?)and Brion is now showcasing her talents with stupendous tumbling (sky high double tuck). A super cat leap turn and a great final pass (wonderful timing on her front handspring to front layout to front tuck). Stephens receives a 9.775. Breanne Rutherford completes her flight series confidently and is a worthy replacement so far for Kinsey. Brion receives a 9.90 and now we are awaiting Raegan Tomasek with held breath (double arabian, no - yes YES!!!) She landed it perfectly! The crowd is really getting into this rock medly. Now she has a final passs completed very well and the Tide has this house rocking!!!
[ top... ] Alabama leads UGA [ 8:29 PM, 01/18/02 ] by only 3 tenths and they can easily make this up on balance beam if UA stumbles on floor, so look out for a stupendous ending! Bama really needs to score past 196, so we've gotta have some big scores!!
[ top... ] Now, a little suggestion [ 8:26 PM, 01/18/02 ] for the Coaches: let's hold off on that double front arabian from Raegan unless they put her in the sixth position. However, the line up looks like this for the Tide: Lauren Holdefer, Stephanie Kite, Alexis Brion, Raegan Tomasek, Jeana Rice, Kristin Sterner. For UGA on balance beam: Talya Vexler, Sierra Sapunar, Marline Stephens, Breanne Rutherford (in place of Kinsey Rowe), Cassie Bair and Cory Fritzinger.
[ top... ] Andree receives a [ 8:17 PM, 01/18/02 ] 9.75 and Kristin just fell off on her flight series. The rest of the routine is solid so far and she is dismounting with a way cool double pike. She receives a 9.350 and Fritzinger a 9.225. Marline Stephens almost fell to her knees on her opening pass of a double layout, so something appears to be in the air (it is kind of hot in here!). Bama has given up a huge chunk of real estate by having to count a fall on balance beam but UGA is giving up some of their own, with Stephens popping out of her last pass, a double pike and stumbling forward. Fatigue at work here? Shannon Hrozek is on the beam for the Tide with an exhibition and promptly falls on her two layouts. She is being too tentative, trying not to fall and her leaps are suffering but this is a great opportunity to get her first experience under her belt. Stephens receives a 9.55 for her floor routine and now we rotate to Bama's final event, the floor (please, no falls on this apparatus), while UGA goes to the beam, the site of their marvelous performance last week at home (49.500). We expect UGA to attack the beam right down their line up, and they will garner big scores if they do this and stay on. UA needs to relax, focus om completing their skills and the scores will come for them as well. How bad does the Tide want this meet? We'll see shortly.
[ top... ] Loren Simpson is up on [ 8:12 PM, 01/18/02 ] floor in the place of Kinsey Rowe, who apparently did not recover well from her vault mishap and chose to sit this event out. Nice music from Simpson and a big smile. She ends with a double twist. Andree Pickens is up next for the Tide on balance beam and is on with her front punch mount (a little stumble). Two switch leaps and a beautiful flight series, full turn, her new shoulder roll. Looking confident so far, with an additional punch front, a little low at the shoulder and a gainer dismount off the side of the beam. Whoosh! Salto is being revived with a large fan at this time. If Kristin stays on we can put away the smelling salts. Cory Fritzinger just missed a bit of her triple opening pass and had to take a step to catch herself and she touches down on her double tuck second pass (it's hard to be perfect all the time but she comes mighty close!).
[ top... ] Tiffany Byrd gets a [ 8:07 PM, 01/18/02 ] 9.75 for her beam routine as well and Alexa Martinez is now up. She lifted a leg on her flight series landing but threw her two Popanovas beautifully, followed by a straddle split jump - sissone combo, dismounting with a gainer off the side of the beam. Emmons receives a 9.825 for her floor routine. Sierra Sapunar is up next and throws a front to a 2 1/2 twist. She is selling her routine to the crowd and the judges alike. Gives everyone a big kiss at the end of her routine. Martinez receives a 9.75 (the judges like this score). Jeana Rice is up next (welcome back)and threw a nice straddle to wolf combo. She falls on her layout series (nice form though!). She now has a gainer back handspring which she completed with nice style. Sapunar gets a 9.875 for her floor routine. Jeana dismounts with a double twist and a big smile. We need two more routines so we will not have to count a fall, come on Bama, go for the win!
[ top... ] Eileen Diaz is now up [ 8:01 PM, 01/18/02 ] on the floor to some jazzy music and she lands her double pike solidly. She lands her second pass a little low on the front pike, which will be slight deduction. Her final pass is a little loose on the landing as well front layout to front full but she finishes with no major mishap. Tiffany Byrd is up on the beam for the Tide to some awesome Creed music. Three leap series is in the books. Her flight series consists of two flic flacs and a layout, which she completes as well as her switch leap to gainer back handspring. So far she looks good and dismounts with a solid single twist. Tomasek receives a 9.75 and Diaz a 9.675. The judges are tight tonight. Emmons just threw a nice double layout but still has that split in her legs as she is executing this skill, which also should be a slight deduction. She follows with three front layouts. She ends with a double pike. Very methodical, little expression or emotion, but she gets the job done.
[ top... ] Okay, we are ready to see if Bama [ 7:59 PM, 01/18/02 ] wants this meet badly enough, because UGA is a fighting team and never gives up until the final routine is done! Raegan Tomasek will start UA off on the balance beam. She is on with a rough punch front (see, those nerves again). Flight series is done, as well as her leap series and a front walk over. She has really nice lines, throwing the wolf leap to 1/4 dive handstand. A beautiful full turn and now she is setting up for the dismount, a back handspring to a gainer full off the side of the beam. Salto screams with relief!
[ top... ] Look for UGA to [ 7:55 PM, 01/18/02 ] throw all their weapons out on the floor to make up for an uncharacteristic showing on the vault (those three meets in 10 days may be catching up with them). UA scored a 49.275 on the bars and UGA scored a 48.300 on vault (I doubt we've ever seen this low of a score from UGA on the vault in at least 12 years or more). UA leads with a 98.175 to UGA's 97.450. However, UGA is going to their next strongest event, the floor and UA is on the great equalizer, balance beam. Whoo-oo-oo! Feel the shivers and the gnashing of Salto's teeth against his hand already (he hates the beam, keeps his eyes closed usually during this event until the crowd erupts with a cheer of approval, telling him it's all right to look now).
[ top... ] Stupendous bars sets [ 7:52 PM, 01/18/02 ] by Tomasek (9.875), Barrington (9.85) and now Andree Pickens (9.90). The judges were very stingy on the bars as far as handstands across both teams. Shannon Hrozek threw a nice exhibition routine and the home crowd gave her rousing round of applause as she landed her double tuck out of a full turn on the high bar. If Natalie had not taken a balance step forward on her landing off the bars, we might have seen a 9.95 from her, it was that gorgeous.
[ top... ] Tiffany Byrd [ 7:42 PM, 01/18/02 ] got us started on the bars with a solid routine, including her landing of a double tuck, for a 9.725. Jeana Rice is BACK! in a major way with a stupendous bars set, reaching for every handstand with perfect toe point. Suzanne just shouted "That's ridiculous!" when the UGA vault score just came up for Emmons (9.625) and then Chelsa Byrd (why is she vaulting with a strained hand?) just fell forward on her vault, touching down. Kristin Sterner is through her routine so far, both release moves and now the double front dismount is landed sky high! Jeana Rice receives a 9.85 for her bars routine (wait till you see it on the replay!). Suzanne is saying "Of all events, our best event!" and then Kinsey crashes her vault! Raegan Tomasek is next on bars and just threw a stupendous jaeger release and then the toe on toe off, nailing her landing for a 9.875. For every vault UGA throws that they are NOT hitting, UA is nailing their bars routines with a powerful landing! Kinsey may be hurt per Suzanne's comments (how do I know, she is standing right in front of me!). Nice lady, takes her licks and shrugs off for the next event. Cory just threw a nice Hristakieva but took a hop forward.
[ top... ] It looks like Raegan is [ 7:37 PM, 01/18/02 ] going to throw her toe on toe off on the high bar tonight to gain extra bonus in her routine. We'll need to see a more vertical handstand from her in the process to reach maximum scoring potential.
[ top... ] Cory Fritzinger receives [ 7:34 PM, 01/18/02 ] a 9.90 for her routine (she took a hop forward on her dismount but otherwise had solid moves throughout). UGA leads Bama and goes to one of their strongest events, vault while UA moves to the uneven bars. We're a little surprised that UA did not choose to exhibit at least a few vaults, the ladies could obviously use the practice before a large home crowd such as the one we have here tonight to get some of those early season jitters out of their system. Maybe the coaches have agreed to move this meet quickly, hence no exhibits.
[ top... ] We're not getting very [ 7:28 PM, 01/18/02 ] good landings on vault from our gymnasts with the exception of Jeana Rice. Raegan Tomasek threw a pike front and took a bounding step forward, for a 9.675. Kristin Sterner just threw a pike 1/2 twist but landed bent at the waist with a tiny balance check. UGA has Stephens with a 9.70 on the bars, Rowe with a 9.825. Simpson's score was moved up to a 9.775. Diaz just completed her routine. Sterner receives a 9.725 for her vault (no distance, no stucked landing, major deductions). However, Andree just threw the most awesome vault of her life and the crowd has gone electric! Great position in the air and she landed it chest high but the judges still found some fault (.05 worth). Diaz receives a 9.875 for her solid bars routine and Cory is ready to go.
[ top... ] Talya Vexler [ 7:24 PM, 01/18/02 ] receives a 9.725 and Jeana Rice just threw a perfect Hristakieva, the crowd is now into it big time. What a smile on her face to behold! Simpson gets a 9.75 for her bars routine (no major release and a step on the dismount was observed, but nice form otherwise). Marline is on the bars but has some major leg separations and takes a hop forward on her dismount.
[ top... ] Erin Holdefer just [ 7:23 PM, 01/18/02 ] threw her front pike and took a balance step backwards, a little awkward in her landing overall for a 9.675.
[ top... ] Lauren Holdefer starts the Tide [ 7:21 PM, 01/18/02 ] off with a front pike, taking a large step forward on her landing. Talya Vexler just completed her uneven bars routine with no major glitches but she failed to reach handstand on her opening uprise. Lauren receives a 9.65 for her vault, with maximum taken off for her landing and step forward.
[ top... ] The crowd is leading the opening cheer [ 7:19 PM, 01/18/02 ] with the Tide gymnasts to get this meet underway! ROLL TIDE ROLL!
[ top... ] The three minute touch [ 7:15 PM, 01/18/02 ] is going forward for each team. Sarah Patterson is dressed in a really beautiful shiny dark blue pant suit. Roll Tide can be heard from the partisan crowd as the band plays some tv theme music (I don't watch much tv so I can't tell you what them it actually is!). Brion is looking nervous on vault warm ups so we'll see what Sarah decides for the final line up (maybe Raegan Tomasek). Maybe she will exhibit Brion?
[ top... ] When will Bama have new outfits [ 7:14 PM, 01/18/02 ] you ask? Maybe by the end of the year. They are wearing the white bodice, crimson leo while UGA is wearing silver lame and black with spangles (like that co-worker who never wears the same clothes twice, their closet seems to have endless leos).
[ top... ] The crowd has showed up [ 7:09 PM, 01/18/02 ] in a matter of minutes. UGA will start on bars with: Talya Vexler, Loren Simpson, Marline Stephens, Kinsey Rowe, Eileen Diaz, and Cory Fritzinger. UA starts on vault with : Lauren Holdefer, Erin Holdefer, Jeana Rice, Kristin Sterner, Andree Pickens, Alexis Brion. This is a new line up, with Brion going last, perhaps throwing our fifth 10.0 vault??? Bama will need at least four to five strong vaults (good solid landings) to get off to a good start and get the crowd into the meet early.
[ top... ] Super cool opening with [ 7:04 PM, 01/18/02 ] Rara Russ leading the crowd to a frenzy with some awesome "Hey" beat (you gotta see it to know what I mean!!) and now the ladies are being introduced on that huge "A" I told you about.
[ top... ] UGA is being introduced with a [ 7:02 PM, 01/18/02 ] cordial applause from the Tide fans. They are dressed in black warm ups with spangles on the back. A hush has come over the crowd. The Big Show is now being spotlighted on the jumbotron. Crowd is clapping and ready to roll!
[ top... ] Doug McAvinn, UGA vault coach [ 6:58 PM, 01/18/02 ] sails into the arena with a happy (confident?) smile. Always a gentleman. The lights have now gone down and the jumbotron is highlighting NCAA Champions from UA, Andree's name coming last (balance beam - 1999). All Americans are now coming up, followed by the SEC Championship, Regional Championship years, ending with the three NCAA National Championship years.
[ top... ] Lots of photographers and news media [ 6:55 PM, 01/18/02 ] in the arena, ready to get that great shot of some dynamic, athletic skill, hopefully most of which will be shown by OUR gals tonight! Suzanne is decked out in sequined black pants with a colorful contrasting Indian beaded belt and a matching black jersey knit top. This is rather low key for her but she looks as chic as ever.
[ top... ] The band and the cheerleaders [ 6:52 PM, 01/18/02 ] are cheering loudly, trying to get the crowd excited and ready to roll. There is a huge circular emblem in the middle of the Coliseum with a big red letter "A" that probably is going to be lit for the gymnasts to run out to and perhaps stand on (Bryan Raschilla has been helping to design the entrance pageantry for the meets and the National Championships). Former Tide gymnast Lexa Evans has been fiddling with it a bit so she probably has been involved in the set up as well.
[ top... ] Lots of alumni and parents [ 6:48 PM, 01/18/02 ] are here for the annual rivalry meet between UA and UGA. Mandy Chapman, Katie Hornecker and Merritt Booth have been spotted in this crowd and will hopefully cheer loudly for their gals.
[ top... ] Sheryl Dundas [ 6:44 PM, 01/18/02 ] will be judging vault tonight so expect low scores for the Tide (she doesn't want to get attacked by Yoculan for favortism, ha ha). All joking aside, look for the judges on bars to be the most picky about the scoring tonight, specifically in the area of handstands on the high and low bars (must be vertical or .05 to .10 will be deducted for each missed one).
[ top... ] The Alabama Pep Band [ 6:40 PM, 01/18/02 ] is decked out in red and white Hawaiian shirts and just gave the Tide gymnasts a rousing cheer as they departed the arena to prepare for tonight's competition. The crowd is filling in nicely and there are many fans reaching up to the rafters. A sell out? Not likely for this early in the season but you never know. 10-12,000 would be fantastic to start off the home season, with an eye towards increasing the numbers every week for the next month.
[ top... ] Three minutes left [ 6:36 PM, 01/18/02 ] in the warm up section and then it will be time to retire for the entrance festivities at 7 pm. Coach Mal Moore is down on the floor speaking with the Coaches Patterson about the new floor layout this year. The student section is decked out in their crimson and white "10" tee shirts and hopefully will be yelling loudly for the Tide. Rara Russ is helping to set up the cheerleaders and the Ten Troupe this year so we should have a great production in support of the ladies.
[ top... ] We were told that [ 6:33 PM, 01/18/02 ] Jeana Rice would be dancing to new music this year on the floor exercise but she has the same music from last year for this first meet at home. We will keep fans posted as to whether this will change as the year goes on. She is in superb condition, by the way and looks very determined to do her part for the team this week. Shannon Hrozek has dynamite, showy music and is ready to debut her routine for the home crowd. We are unsure whether she will be in the competition line up or exhibit.
[ top... ] Raegan Tomasek [ 6:30 PM, 01/18/02 ] just threw her double front arabian and we saw another sky high double tuck from Alexis Brion (major hang time). UGA is warming up on the balance beam, where they scored superbly last week at home against UCLA (49.500).
[ top... ] Bama has now moved to the floor exercise [ 6:27 PM, 01/18/02 ] and we are seeing Shannon, Stephanie, Jeana, Alexa, Alexis, Lauren, Kristin and Raegan warm up. Andree will sit out this week on floor and Coach Patterson again emphasized her intention of bringing 'Dre along slowly this year on this event, where Bama has the most depth.
[ top... ] Freshman Alexis Brion [ 6:25 PM, 01/18/02 ] is warming up on the floor and the Tide fans will have their first chance of seeing her in Coleman Coliseum. UGA's Chelsa Byrd does not look any worse for wear after crashing into the board last week on vault. She just did a vault run of a simple layout and seems fine.
[ top... ] Miss Tiffany [ 6:22 PM, 01/18/02 ] Byrd is going for the gusto as well on her pirouettes, toe points and handstand positions. Bama is really competing with each other for the sixth position on bars. It looks like we will be seeing Andree, Natalie, Kristin, Jeana, Raegan, Shannon. Bama will need their best line up for the top team score against UGA.
[ top... ] Kristin Sterner [ 6:17 PM, 01/18/02 ] just finished up her bars warm-up and is looking good. Jeana Rice has looked solid on vault, bars and beam warm ups so far. Alexa Martinez continues to struggle with her Tkatchev release. Shannon Hrozek has the look of the elephant in her eyes, one of determination and composure. Jeana Rice is working extra hard on keeping her feet together during her pirouettes on the high bar and Andree just did the neatest full turn on top of the high bar before shooting over to the low bar. She always has something new to show us.
[ top... ] It's the "BIG SHOW" tonight [ 6:13 PM, 01/18/02 ] in Tuscaloosa and it's not even April! UA versus UGA, the fiercest rivalry in collegiate gymnastics. Bama is warming up on the uneven bars, which are now on the right side of the arena facing press row while the floor has been moved over to the left to take advantage of the new 150 seat student section. The balance beam is turned perpendicular to its original position and faces the front entry of the coliseum. So, we have an apparatus located in each main corner of the coliseum floor so the entire crowd gets to have a better view of each. Bama is looking good on the bars, swings are tight and dismounts are being focused on with an eye towards nailing the landing. UGA is on vault for warm ups and looks confident as ever.
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