where the Tide was nipped by the Gators, 196.550 to 196.350. See you next Friday Night at 7:30 Tide fans. Roll Tide!

and has made several new fans in the collegiate crowd that attended the meet from what we can overhear.

and Erin has a beaming smile on her face as she talks about her 9.90 on the floor for the Tide tonight. We bragged all pre-season about her unbelievably high and gorgeous double pike and she shared it with the rest of the fans tonight in primetime.

week for the "Think Pink Wear Pink" meet against the Auburn Tigers, so let's have lots of fans there to support them.

David Patterson has stopped by to chat and he is pleased with the strong away score and is really proud of how well the team did despite having to pull Alexis from the line-up. She was not able to train this week due to feeling under the weather and they simply could not risk her tonight as a result. But the rest of the team stepped up in other areas where they needed to, which will prepare them for tougher meets down the road. And this is definitely a road score the Tide will hold onto as we move towards RQS tabulations in late February.

Filetti (3rd), King (2nd), and Miles (1st)

Vault: 3rd (Ashley Miles), 2nd (Orley Szmuch), 1st (Tiffany Murry)
Bars: 2nd (Ashley and Mari), 1st (Terin Humphrey)
Beam: 2nd (Shannon Hrozek and Samantha Lutz), 1st (Terin Humphrey)
Floor: 3rd (Breanne King), 1st (Ashley Miles and Savannah Evans)

was a mainstay on the Tide's 1995 SEC Championship Team and the 1996 National Championship Team.

A great road score for the Tide and, despite some lackluster scores on the vault and beam, the team really pulled it together when Brion had to sit this one out on two events. Bama also threw more difficulty and the results were great for Filetti and Rightley on the floor respectively (9.875 and 9.90).

Michelle Reeser is on the beam exhibiting a nice routine. Not sure why she was not in the line-up tonight unless her warm-ups were not as sharp as the coaches wanted them to be. Bama finishes on beam with a 48.975 and Florida a 49.375 on the floor.

and Savannah Evans is mesmerizing the crowd with the Cotton Eyed Joe hoedown routine. No doubt she'll get a 10!

a Kotchetkova to back handspring to layout. Also, the switch leap to Miller and nails the dismount of a double tuck out of a round off-back handspring!

(landed low and forward) and touches down and forward on her final pass, a double pike.

but is completing the major skills without a problem. She dismounts with a round off to double tuck, oops, several steps back on the mat. That will be deducted by at least 2 to 2.5 tenths.

Lutz takes two steps back on the landing of her double tuck (first pass) and ends with a nice double twist. Mari completes what appeared to have been a solid beam routine but receives a 9.75 final score. We'll have to check that routine replay as well.

leap to wolf, as well as the hitch kick to sheep jump. Small hop back on the double twist but she had a huge smile at the end. Great recovery after a sluggish warm-up.

Rai lands her double front Arabian with two hops forward on the sting mat. Popped out and forward on her final pass, a double pike (leg split as well), landed on another sting mat. Filetti receives a 9.700.

and has a bobble on the tuck full but completes the bhs-Korbut very nicely. She dismounts with a double twist, one step to the right on the landing.

front full to front layout, one step forward on the landing. Rue finishes with a whip 1/2 front full, another balance step forward.

and Rachael is now on the beam to start this rotation. She opens with a wolf full, landed perfectly. Flight series is a bhs-layout stepout, a little shift of the shoulder on her left side but she completes the wolf to Korbut back dive and a nice switch leap side, full turn, cartwheel 1/2 down onto the beam and some more dance before a dismount of a gainer back pike, perfect landing!

Again, who ends up winning this meet is not as important as staying on the beam and counting another solid team score overall. Let's see how the ladies respond tonight.

against the LSU Bengal Tigers. The coaches also want a strong road score that will be counted in lieu of the first Super Six Challenge score (193.875) when they move to RQS scores. Bama will also have to add two other strong road scores over the next six weeks to drop the Super Six Challenge score.

beam. We fully expect the Gators to get higher scores on the floor since the crowd is usually good for at least an extra .05 to .100 on each routine that does not have significant deductions and composition problems.

Bama is able to drop the 9.700 from Shannon Hrozek (step out of bounds on the opening double pike) and will count Dana Pierce's 9.75. Terrific routines from Filetti and Rightley with the added difficulty (double front Arabian and the double pike respectively).

and is now through the front-front full-front layout, small step back. She is really selling the routine and grins during the seat drop. She nails the double pike with another huge grin. She receives a 9.95. Awesome!

decides to inquire about this score at the end of the meet. Our radio crew is just as confused by this score. Meanwhile, Erin Rightley scores a 9.90! That's what added difficulty will get you, along with perfect execution of a double pike.

Beautiful height and she stayed in bounds. Nice second pass of a double twist. She finishes with a front-front full-front pike and salutes the judge to the far left. Dooley of Florida gets a 9.775 for her routine on beam.

but nails the front-front full to front tuck. She will finish with a double twist, perfect landing, before the double stag leap (barrel position) and a salute to the crowd. They respond with strong applause. King gets a generous 9.80 score for a routine that had a noticeable bobble and very loose form on the dismount as earlier discussed. And then Mari gets a 9.95 from one judge and a 9.75 from another!

(lifted both legs but stayed on). Another front aerial to a back handspring. Very sluggish dismount of the double twist, we were not sure she was going to stand this one up but she did.

terrific dancing and will close out with the front full to front layout, one hop forward on the landing. Rue gets a 9.825 for her beam routine and King is now up.

putting any pressure on the Gators, as they are hitting solid if not spectacular routines on the beam (9.80, 9.80 for the first two gals up). Filetti opens with the double front Arabian and lands it high and in bounds! Whoosh!

in her routine. Pierce gets a 9.75 for the first routine. Shannon is next. She opens with a double pike and steps back and out (flag raised). Next pass is landed well, a front-front full-front tuck. Perfect landing of the double tuck on her third pass. Automatic one tenth for going out of bounds and the judges will also likely deduct for the implied lack of control on the landing, so look for something around a 9.7 to 9.75.

Nice straddle side to straddle Popa to straddle Shushonova. Two front layouts for her second pass and some boogeying along with the worm. A nice ring leap and she will finish with a double twist punch front, one hop to the side on the landing of this final element (not enough punch out of the double twist to secure the landing the first time). But she stands it up well overall. Roll Tide!

She mounts with a straddle planche and throws a bhs-layout and two 1/4 side straddle leaps (interesting) and dismounts with a stuck double tuck (leg separation evident but confidently done).

Dana P. (yeah, we love her routine!), Shannon, Dana F., Mari, Erin, and Ashley. Will the coaches have Filetti throw the double front Arabian? Will Erin throw the double pike?

problem with Pierce's vault and the steps on Rightley's that scored her lower. Brion's absence on this event tonight was evident. But kudos to Brittany, Shannon, Dana F. and Ashley for strong performances, again in the face of adversity. The Tide is still in the thick of it here in Gainesville. Florida's total on the bars is 48.750.

Lutz gets a 9.75 and the judges on bars are really taking off for Florida's loose form, flexed feet and missed handstands. Breanne King has a similar routine and takes a couple of steps forward on the landing of her double tuck, which also had leg separation during the rotation, so that will be deducted as well.

double layout without taking a step. Comeaux gets a 9.80 for her vault. Ashley Miles just nailed her Yurchenko 1/1.

during the flight (1/2 on to a front tuck to a 1/2 tuck off)

Filetti gets a 9.825. Katie Rue gets a 9.4 for her bars routine and Comeaux is next on vault.

bobble on her high bar move and this will be a major deduction. She lands the double layout well.

Dana Filetti stands up her Yurchenko full twist on back pike off. We needed that one!

Dana Pierce landed forward, one knee down on her Yurchenko 1/1.

Szmuch gets a 9.75 for her bars routine.

dismount out of a full turn. Erin received a 9.525 for her vault, so we were right in the deduction estimate.

gets to the number stand to shift her vault group type. She will vault the Yurchenko layout (9.80 valued) and she takes several steps back on the landing, so that will be scored around a 9.5 to 9.60.

because she usually comes through with a 9.85 or higher on this event. We really like how well the team responded after Kaitlin's struggle on her landing and Shannon's fall on her dismount, especially Ashley and Mari. Very gutsy, determined routines. This is how we need to see them respond when a teammate struggles.

on this event and they will need to stick their vaults to get back in this meet early on.

and the Gators are way ahead with a total of 49.400 after Savannah Evans came in with a 9.825. Again, we have no way to analyze these vaults in terms of their execution due to the position of our computer ports but it looks like the Gators stuck most of their attempts, which certainly helps.

without a hitch and nails the double front dismount! So we now have more depth on this event for the next two months of competition. Roll Tide!

will try to ice another big score to help us throw out that 9.275.

She is mounting the high bar this week and throws a stalder before she goes into the toe on 1/2 turn to Markelov release (super) and lands the double layout perfectly! She receives a 9.925!

9.275 for her routine earlier, marred only by the fall on her Arabian dismount. Mari-Christine Bayer is now up for the Tide, and is giving one gutsy performance! She hits her piked Jaeger release, the handstand transition to the low bar and the full turn to a stuck double tuck dismount. Yowza!

and Dana Filetti receives a 9.80 for her bars routine. Ashley Miles is now on the apparatus and completes her Shaposhnikova and the Hindorff without a problem and sticks the double layout dismount. What a competitor!

and Breanne King a 9.825 (bent at the waist on the Yurchenko 1/1 and off to the side as well a bit).

Dana Filetti is next for the Tide and we need a huge score. Terrific routine in response to adversity, highlighted by the Gienger release, and the double front dismount, one small step on the landing.

Shannon is through her Gienger and will dismount with the very difficult Arabian, but sits it down. You gotta throw the big skills at some point to prepare for post-season, so there it is.

But she has a sluggish landing on her double tuck because her giant swing (full turn entry) was too slow. Rest of the routine was rock solid (Gienger release and a pak Salto transition to the low bar).

Reed gets a 9.875 for her vault.

and she nails it! We have no way to tell if she was able to achieve the necessary distance to score high because we are at the opposite end of press row, but her score should give us a good indication.

prior to her routine on the bars. The Gators are about to go on vault.

all gymnasts 2 touches on the vault before the meet can officially start. Let's go BAMA!

Florida is garbed in an extremely bright orange metallic outfit with marine blue metallic sleeves and contrasting orange criss-cross bordering strips on the shoulder.

Bama is in deep crimson velveteen with the sweetheart bodice, lots of silver sequins adorning the front and sheer netting contrast at the top and shoulders. The leo has a contrasting velveteen collar that makes the final effect very elegant.

we are listening to a strong rendition of the Star Spangled Banner by the local Glee Club coach.

Bars: Kaitlin, Shannon, Dana F., Ashley, Mari, Terin
Vault: Erin, Shannon, Dana P., Dana F., Brittany, Ashley
Floor: Dana P., Shannon, Dana F., Mari, Erin, Ashley
Beam: Rachael, Dana F., Shannon, Mari, Ashley, Terin

Interesting line-up but mainly adjusted for the fact that Alexis was not feeling well tonight in warm-ups and has been wisely pulled to avoid unnecessary risk of injury.

introduced and then run immediately off to our left.

subliminal message Salto? Hopefully we won't self-destruct in the next 90 minutes but just in case keep those smelling salts handy.

three weeks ago when we had six teams competing and a record-breaking crowd for the O'Connell Center that night. The Florida cheerleaders are leading the crowd in some of the home team's favorite chants and now the judges are being introduced:

Evelyn Chandler, Diane Thompson, Carole Liedtke and Carole Bunge.

Lights out! Mission Impossible music is being played as the Tide is introduced. Roll Tide Roll is the loud chanting going on behind us, led by RaraRuss and the gang.

with his tail.

Hello to all our gymnasts' parents around the country who are on-line with us tonight. The Delahoussayes are here in person supporting the gals for you, along with Trish Rightley, Dan Filetti and team manager Lindsay's parents.

for the Tide in the following areas:

Brittany Comeaux on the bars, Erin Rightley on the vault and Dana Pierce on the floor (all in place of Alexis, who apparently is under the weather tonight and did not vault very well in her long warm-ups as a result).

before they head to the locker room to prepare for tonight's competition.

The weather here in Florida is pretty cool and will be colder in about two hours when we start to head back out into the night. The Bama faithful are again sitting right behind us, led by RaraRuss in their chanting of B-A-M-A and Roll Tide Roll as the ladies depart the floor.

beam warm-ups so far. Nice switch leap to Miller from Terin and a round off to back handspring timer for her double tuck off the end of the beam.

difficult round off layout-stepout onto the beam (mount). Mari is practicing her front aerials and the tour j'ete while Terin just threw the Kotchetkova to a back handspring to a layout step-out. Dana Pierce is up as well and throws the two-footed back handspring to a layout stepout. Nice handstand to back layout stepout from Dana Filetti.

sequences for her floor routine. There's still alot of work to be done with this routine but it's starting to come together.

and this is a slow arriving crowd for less than one hour before showtime.

Dana Filetti just nailed her double front Arabian in the warm-up period and her teammates erupted with applause. They know that's a huge skill they'll need down the road to score big on this event.

just then from Erin Rightley.

Hopefully we'll see her on floor before long.

weather. We'll check with the coaches to be sure. So we'll probably see Erin and Dana Pierce in the line-up on floor.

on this event tonight after all. The initial line-up we gave you is tentative.

just did a terrific follow-up vault run after falling on the previous one. Coach Patterson congratulates her and then moves the team on to the floor for the next warm-up.

Coach Patterson is pumping up Alexis Brion, who was struggling a bit on her first few vault runs. Filetti and Miles are looking strong and Bee Comeaux is trying to whip that 1/2 tuck after the front salto with more height.

Bars: Brittany, Shannon, Dana Filetti, Mari, Ashley, Terin
Vault: Shannon, Dana Pierce, Dana F., Brittany, Alexis, Ashley
Floor: Erin, Shannon, Dana F., Mari, Alexis, Ashley
Beam: Michelle, Rachael, Dana F., Mari, Shannon, Terin

For the Gators:

Vault: Ashley Reed, Orley Szmuch, Breanne King, Katie Rue, Tiffany Murry

Bars: Orley, Sherie Owens, Katie, Ashley, Samantha Lutz, Breanne
Beam: Orley, Ashley, Katie, Breanne, Erinn Dooley, Samantha
Floor: Katie, Tracey, Samantha, Breanne, Tiffany, Savannah

already has 6500 tickets sold along with another 1500 sold to students (total of 8000), so fans who have not purchased their tickets need to do so as soon as possible. The ticket office has moved temporarily to the Old Capstone Medical Center on University Blvd., so make sure you go there or order on rolltide.com and arrange to pick them up at "will call" on meet night.

their next 15 minute warm-up. Brion, Pierce, Comeaux, Hrozek, Miles, Filetti and Humphrey will be in the line-up (Rightley apparently will not compete or exhibit this week).

time and the gals cheered her effort.

Bee Comeaux is now working her full routine with encouragement from her teammates. Super high Tkatchev that time.

as she continues to improve her conditioning. Brittany timed that double front perfectly after hitting the handstand precisely beforehand. Nice concentration.

Terin Humphrey has now added a stalder at the end of her routine to a half turn to giant to double layout, and stuck that landing!

year but Kaitlin followed behind her with a nice full turn to double tuck dismount. Bee Comeaux is getting her timing back as well on her Tkatchev and the double front dismount. Will she compete tonight? Dana Pierce and Kaitlin might have something to say about that. Lots of options for the coaches.

missing the re-grasp. But Shannon Hrozek looked very strong with her new dismount, the Arabian. Terin Humphrey is also looking strong, beautiful toe point and extension on her uprise to handstand positions on the high bars.

Florida for tonight's SEC Gymnastics Meet between the Gators and the Crimson Tide.

Alabama is warming up on the uneven bars and Florida is on the vault.

It looks like freshman Kaitlin White will be back in the bars line-up tonight for the Tide and may start the team off. Alexis Brion is not warming up on this event so the coaches are apparently resting her this week.