It was a rough beginning to the weekend for Alabama sports fans last Friday around 1:00 pm. But by Saturday Night in Coleman Coliseum, Bama fans were more than eager to see if Nebraska could hide from a re-intensified Tide. The Alabama Gymnastics team delivered the goods on all four events before a crowd of 9,559, acquiring their highest score of the season (196.925) while resting three of their most dynamic tumblers on floor (Tomasek, Pickens, Rice).

On the vault, freshman Shannon Hrozek threw a super powerful front pike for a 9.775 (small splitting of legs upon entry on the horse), while sophomore Stephanie Kite (9.775) keeps getting better each week with her front pike (one hop forward on the landing). Junior Kristin Sterner excelled once again with her pike 1/2, scoring a 9.900 while the Holdefer twins exploded respectively with nice front pikes (Lauren: 9.75 and Erin: 9.80), which were deducted for one step forward each. But the red elephant award goes to senior Andree Pickens for another incredible Yurchenko full vault that was flawless in form and landing, for a 9.975.

Next, Alabama moved confidently to the uneven bars, where sophomore Tiffany Byrd started the team off in a big way by reaching vertical on all handstands, rotating faster, throwing a strong Tkatchev release and nailing her double tuck dismount like a dart (9.85). Shannon was equally solid in her Geinger release and suffered only a tiny hop forward on her dismount of a double tuck (9.80). Sterner slightly missed at least two of her handstands but her full twisting Tkatchev and Tkatchev release moves more than satisfied the judges, not to mention her huge dismount of a double front (another small hop on landing) for a 9.825. Senior Raegan Tomasek struggled a bit with her handstands and took a small step on her double front dismount for a 9.75 while seniors Natalie Barrington (9.85) and Andree Pickens (9.95) once again demonstrated why they are in the anchor spots on this event, with beautiful toe point, extension and incredible release moves respectively. Senior Alexa Martinez exhibited for the first time on bars and threw a nice Tkatchev and a double layout dismount.

On balance beam, Tomasek (9.775) and Byrd (9.60) struggled with their respective flight series but regained their focus on the task at hand while Natalie Barrington impressed the judges with her wolf jump to Korbut (fish flop) combination for a 9.85. Senior Alexa Martinez left out a required two-jump combination (she threw only the straddle jump) and was deducted accordingly (9.725) but she has now added a punch front to her routine and completed this move with confidence. Andree Pickens fell on the third element of her flight series (layout) but finished very strongly with a punch front and her first double tuck dismount of the season (nailed it chest high, no steps) for a 9.275. Kristin Sterner had one of her best routines, no deductions until the dismount of a super difficult double pike, which she landed chest forward a bit (9.875). Shannon Hrozek had an awesome exhibition on beam this week and her confidence was noticeably present on all of her moves. She dismounted with a stuck double twist.

Moving to the floor exercise, Alabama was leading by a slim margin over the Huskers at this juncture (147.325 to 147.150). At least five strong routines would be required to close the deal. Lauren Holdefer was given the lead off nod and she was very steady on her opening pass of a double tuck but over-rotated her second (double pike) and landed on her bottom. She bounded up quickly and the crowd stayed behind her with strong clapping and a resounding cheer at the end for her efforts (9.325). Stephanie Kite was thus placed in the pressure point position for this week and she responded beautifully, nailing all of her passes for a 9.875. Pint-sized freshman Michelle Reeser was asked to turn the notch up a bit by whipping the crowd into a frenzy with her electric routine to "Devil Went Down To Georgia", opening with a super strong double pike and some amazing aerobic workout moves along the way for a 9.90 (this is already a crowd favorite). Flirtatious freshman Alexis Brion iced the cake with a brand of tumbling only she can muster (effortless, perfect timing and expression on every pass and move), garnering a 9.925. Alexa Martinez completed all four passes with ease, including her front through to a double twist, front handspring to two layouts, a round off to a double twist, and ending with a front handspring, round off, back handspring to layout step-out, for another 9.925. Kristin Sterner slammed the door shut with her perfect (and we mean PERFECT) routine of a double pike at beginning and end, front through to a rudi layout step out on her second pass, for a 9.975. Shannon Hrozek exhibited her sassy salsa routine like a veteran, opening with a super strong and high double pike, a second pass of round off, whip half, whip half to front layout to front tuck (yes, we counted each on the replay), and she finished with a double twist. Her power is awesome to behold.

Nebraska impressed PBAs in several areas. On uneven bars, Julie Houk scored a 9.875 for some intricate pirouetting and a very nice Jaeger release move. Tami Harris demonstrated solid all around skills and was very confident on the uneven bars (9.825) and the floor exercise (9.85), where she danced to groovy Pink Floyd music (we think). Libby Landgraf (9.875) and AJ Lamb (9.90) were equally impressive on floor. Richelle Simpson did not throw her double layout on the floor but had some nice choreography throughout her routine, as well as two double pikes (9.775). The Cornhuskers finished with a score of 196.100.