Athens, Georgia, for the annual slugfest between these fierce rivals. Bama will bring the big scoring routines to town in hopes of pulling off the victory. We'll see you back here one hour earlier due to eastern time zone for the Dawgs meet.

Roll Tide and goodnight from Coleman Coliseum, where the Tide was victorious tonight against the Kentucky Wildcats, 195.250 to 193.850.

Bama's Dana Filetti finished second (39.00) to Michelle Gales first place showing (39.050).

The radio crew is interviewing Terin Humphrey and Dana Filetti regarding their performances tonight.

Bama mixed in new faces on every event to give the vets a rest and to continue building much-needed depth. There was an uncharacteristic slip on the vault for Brion (9.55), who again is suffering a bit this past week from bronchitis-like symptoms, so her timing may have been off. Brion, Miles and Hrozek were rested on floor tonight as well and the final score reflects this. Humphrey was held off vault and Hrozek off beam as well. The next three meets are all on the road (Georgia, Arkansas, Stanford) and the Tide will have little to no room for error in order to get the scores they'll need for RQS, which starts after the weekend of the 25th.

Nicest surprise of the evening was Kaitlin White on the floor. She received a 9.750, a score that counted in the final tally when Michelle Reeser experienced several steps on her second pass and scored only a 9.675. Reeser opened very strongly with a super, stuck double pike but may have had too much adrenaline going on the second pass, almost stepping out of bounds in the process. Her score again was dropped from the final tally.

Vault: Ashley Miles (9.975), Staci O'Keefe (9.825) and Dana Filetti (9.800)

Bars: Terin Humphrey (9.850), Dana Filetti (9.825), Brittany Comeaux (9.800) and Shannon Hrozek (9.800)

Beam: Terin Humphrey (9.850), Rachael Delahoussaye (9.750), Michelle Gales (9.700)

Floor: Erin Rightley (9.875), Michelle Gales (9.850), Rachel Riley (9.825)

because that routine was just as solid as Erin's in execution overall and had more unique dance elements. Kaitlin White completes her first collegiate routine and scores a 9.750. She had front tumbling for the first two passes and ended with a double twist. We'll review the entire routine more closely for the post-meet commentary and identify her passes and leap series.

We will see Kaitlin White on the floor for the first time this year and we've not even seen her exhibit! Wow, that tells you the confidence the coaches have in the Allen, Texas gal.

Mari Bayer is up next, opening with a double pike, one step back, beautiful height and toe point, extension. Strong second pass of the front-front full-front tuck. She is dancing and selling the routine beautifully and will finish with a double twist, the crowd egging her on to greatness. Perfect landing again! Way to go California gal!

(punch front) and the crowd gives her applause as she returns to the beam. A little trouble on the flight series (layout) and some wobbles on the straddle leap combo. She dismounts with a bhs-gainer full twist, nice landing.

so if everything else goes well this routine should score high. Second pass of a front through to a Rudi (1 1/2) is landed perfectly. Nice presentation and she ends with a strong front-front full to front pike. Crowd is cheering loudly Roll Tide Roll! They want a victory!

layout (?).

Filetti receives a 9.775 (stingy!) for her floor routine.

but for some reason they are not being posted yet on the jumbotron.

Reeser receives a 9.675 for her floor routine and did not go out of bounds. Kaufman gets a 9.25 for her beam routine.

Filetti is up and throws the double pike, one step back. She nails her second pass (whip 1/2 front full-front full) and will finish with a perfect front layout-front full to front layout.

the second pass, a front tumbling sequence we could not see clearly; and nails her third pass to the delight of the crowd.

balance check on the layout landing. Leaps are needing a little more amplitude for optimal scoring. Punch front had a little balance check.

performance on the floor to wipe out the 'Cats' lead. Dana Pierce opens first and has an uncharacteristic step back on her usually pinpoint accurate double pike, but she stood it up, stayed in bounds. Two front layouts are solid for her second pass, nice dance and selling of the routine to the home crowd. Beautiful ring leap and she will finish with a double twist to punch front, nailed it! The crowd is on their feet! That's the move we've been waiting for from her! It electrifies the crowd when done perfectly. Yahoo!

layout for her flight series, nicely landed. A major bend at the waist on her wolf 3/4, so that will be a slight deduction. Other wobbles on her leap series but she is staying on and dismounts with a gainer full twist off the side of the beam and steps to the side a bit after appearing to stick her feet a little too tightly into the mat.

because they are up and jamming with the Million Dollar Band. You probably noticed that Shannon Hrozek was not in the beam line-up, another shift that might have affected the gals' psyche tonight. She was struggling a bit on the layout-layout flight series and Erin had a stronger warm-up, hence the coach's decision to insert her.

on the floor and lead the Tide by one tenth at this juncture, 146.35 to Bama's 146.25.

Ashley's 9.375 for a team total of 48.225.

Michelle Reeser is doing a terrific job on the beam in exhibition, nailing her new flight series and the rest of the routine. Flight this week: two-footed bhs-bhs-layout!

tumbling pass and her teammates are getting into her dance. Second pass of a front-front full to front layout, small hop forward. She finishes with a double tuck, popped forward a bit on the landing but excellent height. The crowd claps loudly for her effort.

we would have figured given the front aerial deductions. Miles gets a respectable 9.375, so the judges liked what they saw as well until that dismount, which required an automatic .5 for the fall. Humphrey is looking good so far, completing the flight series (Kotchetkova, bhs-layout) and the switch leap to Omeliantchik with no problems. Her landing of the double tuck is jammed, a step to the side, but she stood it up. Rough night on the beam for the Tide.

over-rotate, ending in a low landing backwards.

through hers, no major deductions from what we could tell.

Ashley Miles mounts perfectly with a round off-layout stepout. Nice switch leap to straddle side leap combination. She completes the wolf full, some dance moves and then throws a gainer back handspring layout as her flight series, very nice. Shoulder side roll along the beam and she prepares for her dismount, a round off to double tuck, which she falls on but the crowd gives her a mighty cheer regardless, they appreciate all the difficulty no doubt.

Mari Bayer is up next and must be brave. She struggles mightily on the front aerial and almost falls but then throws the bhs-bhs and the tour j'ete with no problems and a terrific switch leap-straddle-wolf leap. Dismount of the gainer back pike is nailed. She will be heavily deducted for the front aerial balancing act.

Salto is still out for the count.

with a double tuck, nice height, one lift of the foot from her momentum. Low double pike for her second pass, we thought that one was going down, but she saved it. She finishes with a front layout to front punch.

layout of her flight series. Nice switch leap-switch leap to Korbut, straddle-straddle-wolf and a stuck bhs to gainer full off the side of the beam. Gremlins have officially returned.

balance check on her flight series and the slip on the dismount. It was incredible that she pulled the double twist around but the form deduction was obvious enroute.

is up now, second pass of a double tuck.

Dana Filetti is now up. Handstand to layout, step back to balance, slight shoulder drop on the left side. Nice straddle-straddle-wolf combination. Beautiful tuck full, bhs-Korbut (back dive), sheep jump landed perfectly, nice amplitude and arch. She dismounts with a double twist and bent her knees but landed it okay, seemed to slip definitely there off the end of the beam a bit, slowing her push off the beam.

and we missed her first tumbling pass but her second one was front tumbling, front full to front 1/2. A third pass of a front 1/2 to front layout, slight slide forward on the landing.

First major element: wolf full, perfect. Flight series: bhs-layout, slight balance check. Nice wolf to Korbut, side straddle jump, a little balance check forward, cartwheel 1/2 down onto the beam and a gainer back pike dismount, tiny hop forward. Not her best but she gut-checked and did the routine after not feeling terrific during long warm-ups.

Looks like Terin will go on the beam

and the running totals for both teams: Bama at 98.025 to 97.525 for the 'Cats.

O'Keefe a 9.825. Except for Michelle Gales, all of Kentucky's vaults were valued at a 10.0.

stronger each time out. Nice Gienger to pak Salto and a double tuck out of a full turn on the high bar, one step forward on the landing. She receives a 9.70, highest of the year on this event so far.

will be deducted again for the hop back on the double layout dismount for a 9.85. Bama's focus is off a bit tonight, maybe it's the time of year, but everyone is just a bit off tonight on one or more event. The line-up changes may be part of this.

terrific height on the Gienger release and landing the double front with one foot shifted in place, her best landing of the year on this E-element. She receives a 9.825. Very tight scoring from one judge in particular tonight.

reviewed on the replay. Mari receives a 9.725 for catching the pike Jaeger too close to the bar. The rest of her routine looks solid, including the double tuck dismount out of a full turn.

but had very limited amplitude and distance.

Shannon is up and through her Gienger release and the dismount this week is a perfect double tuck, nailed the landing! She did not throw the Arabian this week after a mishap in the practice gym that kept her off the vault for several days as well. This might explain the lower vault score performance from her as well.

Tkatchev release and she reached handstand position on the low bar. One step on the landing of the reverse tuck off the high bar.

nails her double front dismount! Cowboy legs during the saltos will be deducted and failure to reach handstand on the low bar transition but a great start for the Tide (9.80 score).

Gales gets a 9.725 for her front pike vault (hop forward, loose form)
Cameron throws a Hristakieva and jams it down and forward a bit but stands it up.

Kentucky is in black with blue sequins on the upper bodice.

Alabama is in a new outfit, deep burgundy velveteen with partially a sweetheart bodice on the left side and a contrasting sheer black material covering the upper arm of this side. The alternate side has the velveteen swirl stretching up to the shoulder area, silver sequins outlining the design nicely.

the bars.

so it looks like she's overcome whatever block that was present on the vault. Ashley Miles had a similar experience during her freshman year and could not even do her 3 minute timers on that particular date, hence was withdrawn for precautionary reasons as well. These girls are so experienced and you have to trust them when they say it's not a go or just doesn't feel right. It's those gremlins.

but something was just not right for her at the end of the 3 minute touch and she informed Coach Patterson accordingly, who removed her from the official line-up for this event.

than we would have predicted. Her form and toe point were much better than previous teammates and she had solid skills, so we will need to look at the replay of that routine for sure.

Perfect Yurchenko 1/1, not a shift or sniffle on the landing for a 9.975.

Gales receives a 9.775 for her bars routine and Cook is looking very good on her handstands, release move and the landing of the double layout, one small step back.

now through hers, landing a terrific double tuck perfectly.

Brion receives a 9.55 for her vault.

How about a 10???

Front Pike 1/2 twist - nope, her hand slipped a bit on the vault table and she immediately lost her momentum, landing with a large step forward. Are there gremlins in the house?

and we noted that she had shown improvement in the long warm-ups. And she competes this vault much stronger tonight as a result, one step to the left on the landing, chest a little down but much improvement over previous meets this season. She receives a 9.725.

on the landing, leg separations throughout but she stands the routine up for a 9.725.

Filetti receives a 9.80 for her vault. Brittany Comeaux just completed the Yurchenko 1/2 on front tuck 1/2 tuck off, landing it well (one small step) for a 9.775.

Filetti sticks her Yurchenko full twist on back pike off vault and salutes with a huge smile.

Burgin of Kentucky completed her bars routine with no significant deductions and receives a 9.775.

see Shannon go first.

The Yurchenko 1/1 was thrown powerfully but she landed it to the left and forward, so it will not be scored probably much above a 9.700.

showcase the National Champions on the floor exercise from 2004, Ashley Miles and Courtney Bumpers of UNC. Dana Dobransky-Duckworth, Bama's volunteer assistant coach choreographed both routines from 2004 and this will be a showdown for sure between two of the strongest floor tumblers in NCAA gymnastics history. Another great reason to be here for the final home meet is Senior Night, a chance to give Shannon Hrozek, Alexis Brion and Michelle Reeser a wonderful send-off into the post-season and the rest of their lives.

meet. Bama is going for the season attendance record again this year and so far leads but will need to have a great finish March 18th against the North Carolina Tarheels. This is also A-Day Weekend and fans can come and celebrate with a variety of events and sports, starting with the gymnastics match Friday Night. So make your plans to join us on March 18th and help us sell out the coliseum!

being sung by the Birmingham Children's Choir.

Not quite 13,299, but there's still time fans!

Tony Giles introduces the Tide once again with the help of Elvis.

Bars: Burgin, Riley, Cannon, Sevier, Gales, Cook

Vault: Gales, Cameron, O'Shields, Burgin, O'Keefe, Cook

Floor: Cameron, Prestigiacamo, Cook, O'Shields, Riley, Gales

Beam: Cannon, Gales, Kaufmann, O'Shields, Burgin, Riley

Vault: Shannon, Dana F., Brittany, Terin, Alexis, Ashley

Bars: Brittany, Dana P., Shannon, Mari, Dana F., Terin

Beam: Rachael, Shannon, Dana F., Mari, Ashley, Terin

Floor: Shannon, Michelle (yeah!), Dana F., Dana P., Erin, Mari

and Michelle Reeser and Erin Rightley will exhibit on the beam. However, if Rachael Delahoussaye cannot go on the balance beam because of cold-like symptoms, we'll possibly see one of these ladies inserted into the line-up.

this week. The Tide is #5 nationally on the balance beam and #7 on bars and vault. Ashley Miles is the top floor and vault gymnast in the nation this week and comes in at #3 in the all around.

interesting information about the University's women's sports programs this past week. Apparently, from last Friday through Sunday, all of the Alabama women's sports programs were undefeated in competition. Roll Tide! Tommy also noted that there will be a unique angle to his upcoming article on Bama gymnastics next week. He has some guests present tonight that will provide their two cents about the sport of gymnastics. More to follow soon in the Tuscaloosa News.

Kentucky has a few final turns on the balance beam.

As the final horn sounds, Ashley is groovin' and singing with the team and Big Al to Michael Jackson's "Pretty Young Thing". Everyone's in great spirits tonight, hope this transfers to a solid competition.

threw a nifty double twist. She's just about there.

Some Tidebits for tonight's competition:

-Bama will rest Ashley Miles on the uneven bars and possibly floor exercise for this meet.
-About four of the girls have been sniffling and coughing and it looks like Rachael Delahoussaye will be held out of the beam line-up and Alexis Brion out of the floor because of bronchitis-like symptoms.
-Brittany Comeaux will go on bars tonight and Michelle Reeser will return on the balance beam (new flight series) and floor.
-Dana Pierce will go on bars, floor and possibly vault. Her warm-ups on vault were looking much better tonight.

for the fourth of five home gymnastics meets the Tide will host this season. It's the Tide versus the 'Cats of Kentucky in what recently has become a mid-season "grind it out" win for Bama. The ladies have been primed by the coaches in practice all week to keep their eye on the prize and not accept anything less than a topnotch performance tonight.

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