Alabama's seniors had their final performance against the Auburn Tigers in Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum and for the fourth straight year walked away with their own "victory on the plains" (a video highlight is sure to follow). The Tigers knew it would be an uphill battle when they found themselves without steady, fifth year senior Sally Cantrell, who suffered an ACL tear during the long warm-up period on vault. Her absence from the line-up may have deflated Auburn's performance initially, but they gave it a valiant effort nonetheless. In the final analysis, however, Alabama's depth, experience and skill level proved too much for the Tigers but they will have better opportunities in the future against the Tide once their gymnasts recover from the lingering injuries that have plagued them this year. We wish Sally Cantrell all the best on the road to recovery.

Uneven Bars

Since this was Auburn's home meet, Alabama began the competition on the uneven bars, where they rank 2nd nationally. Freshman Shannon Hrozek (9.825) threw another solid routine consisting of a huge Gienger release move while sophomore Jeana Rice (9.825) completed two inverted giants, a half turn to a Tkatchev release and dismounted with a full in (one small foot check on the landing). Senior Alexa Martinez was once again a worthy substitution for the injured Kristin Sterner this week and improved to a score of 9.825 for a routine that includes several reverse giants, a Tkatchev and a gorgeous double layout that she stuck cold. Alexa's excellent toe point and body extension throughout help to set this routine apart. Senior Raegan Tomasek (9.85) made amends for her fall last week by throwing another terrific set highlighted by a piked Jaeger release, wonderful vertical handstands with exquisite toe point and a double front dismount (one step on the landing). Senior Natalie Barrington's parents were in the stands and she was understandably working extra hard to put on a good show. She removed her inverted giant this week but completed a beautiful 1 1/2 turn on the high bar, a pak salto release to the lower bar and dismounted with a beautiful full turn to an immediate double tuck, landing it solidly for a 9.90. Senior Andree Pickens closed out the event by nailing her four major release moves enroute to a full in dismount and a 9.875 final score. Sophomore Tiffany Byrd (9.775) and junior Kristin Sterner (9.775) exhibited strong routines as well. Byrd appeared to rotate very fast and comfortably on Auburn's bars and landed her double tuck solidly (she had struggled a bit during warm-ups on this final move). Sterner only threw the Tkatchev release but landed her double front with confidence and did not appear to have any lingering effects from her ankle sprain, which she suffered against Auburn at the BJCC meet in early February.

Auburn had two strong vault performances by sophomores Kristi Boyte (9.800) and Hannah Littrell (9.800).

Vault

Leading off for the Tide for the second week in a row, Shannon Hrozek received a 9.750 for another powerful front pike (deducted for a split leg entry and one step forward on her landing). Lauren Holdefer (9.650) had too much repulsion off the horse and bounded forward on her landing while Jeana Rice rocketed a solid Yurchenko full twist for a 9.85. Erin Holdefer slowed down a bit as she approached the vault and ended up landing with one step back on her front pike (9.675). Alexis Brion took off for the moon with her pike ½ twist vault and impressed the judges enough to earn a 9.775 despite a hop back on her landing. Senior Andree Pickens took another walk in the park with her standard 9.975 performance of the Yurchenko full twist. She is just about ready to break out the Hristakieva and perhaps even the Yurchenko 1 1/2 twist. Alexa Martinez exhibited this week on the vault and meant to throw a pike ½ twist but ended up throwing a front salto mid-air and landed on her foo foo for good measure. Alexa was bemused at how she ended up landing this way when she meant to twist the vault. Coach David Patterson and Bryan Raschilla looked askance at her and had to put their physics theories together to figure that one out. Alexa was shaken a bit but recovered enough to put in a stellar performance later on the balance beam.

The Tigers fared better on the uneven bars, highlighted by freshman Courtney Puckett's 9.825 and Hannah Littrell's 9.800. Freshman Lisa Clark (9.725) had some nice difficulty (Tkatchev, full turn combination on the high bar) as well but likely suffered deductions for her loose form throughout this routine as well as a bend at the waist on her full in dismount.

Floor Exercise

The coaches continued this week to build depth on the floor (ranked 1st nationally) by introducing a new routine in addition to increasing the difficulty level in other routines. Jeana Rice started for the Tide with a strong opening pass of a double pike, followed by a whip through to a 2 1/2 twist, and finishing with a whip through to a double twist for a 9.825. Debuting her new routine on floor was Natalie Barrington, who impressed the judges with her elegant, Khorkina-like dancing and tumbling (first pass: double tuck; second pass: front handspring, front full to a front tuck; third pass: front handspring, front layout to a front tuck). She received a 9.800. Lauren Holdefer mastered her three passes this week (double pike, double tuck, front handspring, front layout, front tuck). However, she briefly got lost in her music after landing her opening pass but quickly recovered to post a final score of 9.825. Shannon Hrozek danced and leaped her way to a 9.875 that included an enormous double pike in her opening pass. Stephanie Kite proved once again why the coaches trust her no matter where they choose to place her in the line-up on floor (9.825). Dynamic Alexis Brion was courageous in going for the increased difficulty this week on her final pass (threw a second double tuck) but she landed it a little too low and had to touch down her hands (9.350). She was noticeably upset with her performance but Tide fans know they can rely on her to pick up the pace in the practice gym to pull this move off in the upcoming weeks.

Meanwhile, Auburn was experiencing trouble over on the beam with two falls but Lisa Clark put in a steady performance (which included a double tuck dismount) for a final score of 9.750.

Balance Beam

Raegan Tomasek started things off in a powerful way for the Tide by landing her punch front mount, her flight series (back handspring, layout, back handspring), her wolf jump to immediate 1/4 dive handstand, her front walkover and she finished with a back handspring to immediate gainer layout off the side of the beam (9.875). Shannon Hrozek is starting to solidify her second position in the beam line-up by throwing another stellar performance (9.800), which included a very confident and elegant flight series (bhs, layout, bhs), a hitch kick to sheep jump combination and a double twist dismount (small hop on the landing). Alexa Martinez (9.800) had minor balance checks on her flight series (bhs, layout) and her wolf Popa but really impressed us with her new Rudi dismount (a running 1 1/2 twist off the end of the beam). Natalie Barrington (9.850) added a little more this week to her beam routine as well, which now includes: back handspring, layout flight series; switch leap, straddle, straddle jump combo; cartwheel, back handspring; switch leap, sissone jump, Korbut (fish flop) combination. Natalie has a history of performing well on the beam at Auburn. Jeana Rice was on the way to matching these performances until her standing back gainer was landed just a tad bit off, resulting in a fall (9.275). Andree Pickens picked up the pace by turning in another super flight series (bhs, bhs, layout), a punch front and a double tuck dismount for a 9.925.

Auburn struggled on this event as well with falls from freshman Kayce Stein (9.050) and Hannah Littrell (8.850) but senior Terri Brannan (9.800) and sophomore Kristi Boyte (9.875) combined nice dance and tumbling to salvage the event for the Tigers.

For the second week in a row, Alabama's freshman star, Shannon Hrozek, walked away with the all around trophy, matching her score from the previous week as well (39.250).