Tide fans had to wait a little longer for this post-meet report because we wanted to make sure that we had a solid grasp on why the judges scored the routines from both teams in such a strict manner. We looked at the replay several times and even counted deduction frequency rates by each judge on specific skills to ensure they were staying consistent.  For example it seemed apparent that Arkansas' gymnasts were deducted heavily on the balance beam when they failed to cleanly connect leap series (even the slightest hesitation was penalized) and gymnasts from both teams were heavily deducted when they bent at the shoulder or waist during a leap or flight series.  It even appeared that the judges on the beam were starting with a base score and only going up if bonus elements were executed sharply, confidently and without breaking the flow of the routine (i.e. no pronounced set up times before executing the element).  And this would be a satisfactory approach as long as every judge follows this same approach with every team.  Following the meet, coaches from both teams spent over an hour with the judges going over their rationale for the scoring of the routines on this night.  Coach Sarah Patterson subsequently reported in her commentary this week on the website that she will use the judges' feedback to make the Tide's routines stronger in terms of skill composition where this is clearly indicated to be a need.  Let's look at some examples on each event:

Uneven Bars (Team Total: 48.975)

Ashley Miles completed all of her major transition and release skills without a break and landed the double layout dismount with excellent height and one step back of the left foot. Other than the balance check on her landing, likely deductions would include a slight separation of her legs at the ankle on the Shaposhnikova transition (at the point of release from low to high bar) and not reaching perfect vertical position on her handstands during the free hip to handstand prior to the Hindorff release.  One judge scored this routine at 9.70 and the other at 9.85 (final score of 9.775).

Shannon Hrozek's bars routine was scored by both judges at a 9.60 yet she did not have an obvious break anywhere in her routine.  However, she most likely did not receive full credit for her full pirouette (which she executes in combination with her Gienger release) because she completed the revolution just past the high bar and with slight leg separation at the ankles.  The Gienger release had nice tight body form and toe point throughout the execution of this element.  Shannon went for the stuck landing on the double tuck (landed chest high) and rotated both arms in an attempt to hold it but ended up taking one small step out of it.  So if these are the sources of the deductions, you're looking at about one tenth for each.  That's pretty harsh. 

Mari Bayer executed one of her best uneven bars routines in the past two years.  Perfect handstand positions, a gorgeous pike Jaeger release and a stuck double tuck landing out of a full turn (on top of the bar this week).  Both judges awarded her a 9.80 which appeared very conservative in light of the performance we saw.

Brittany Comeaux (9.825) stuck her landing of the double front and improved her handstand positions this week, Dana Filetti (9.725) was perfect until she took two steps back on the landing of her double front, and Terin Humphrey (9.850) hopped back on her double layout (also just missed vertical on the handstand out of her stalder).

And while they failed to post Dana Pierce's exhibition score on the bars, she completed a terrific routine and has significantly improved her handstand positions on both the high bar and during the transition to the low bar (perfect this week).  Solid landing too of the back tuck off the high bar (slight leg separation as she moved into the tuck).

Vault (Team Total: 49.125)

Brittany Comeaux (9.800) and Dana Filetti (9.725) had awesome vaults in this meet, both sticking their landings.  Filetti's score was the most perplexing of all six Bama gymnasts.  We looked at her pre-flight, flight and landing and she had better height and push off the vault table than in previous meets and her legs were together throughout. The landing was so solid you could here it go "thump" all the way back down along press row.  One judge scored this as a 9.65, the other a 9.80. 

Ashley Miles definitely took a small hop forward on her landing of the Yurchenko 1/1 for a 9.825, Alexis Brion took a large hop back on her landing of the super high pike ½ twist (9.775) and despite the excellent height and body position in the air when executing the Yurchenko ½ on - front pike - ½ pike out, Terin Humphrey was only given a 9.825 (small hop back but she landed this one chest high and had strong control of this vault from start to finish). 

Shannon Hrozek drilled her Yurchenko 1/1 (9.900) and was again just slightly off center on her landing, which the judges took one tenth off; it was otherwise perfect.  Kaitlin White exhibited for the second week in a row and threw a strong Yurchenko 1/1, landed chest high with one foot back on the landing.  Again, no score was flashed.  This vault is ready for competition if the coaches decide to rest one of the other gymnasts in the coming weeks.

Floor Exercise (Team Total: 48.450)

The perplexing score on floor came right out of the chute with Dana Pierce receiving a 9.55 from one judge and a 9.75 from the other.  She opened with a superb double pike, no balance steps on the landing, but encountered a little trouble on the second tumbling pass: front handspring to front layout to front layout (shoulders back a bit as she landed the third element, requiring a hop back to counteract her balance).  Her final pass was a dynamic double twist to punch front and the judges could have taken off a bit here for form right between the landing of the twist and the point where she switched into the punch (a bit low at the knees from one angle that we had).  However there was not a hop forward or sideways on the landing and this shows you how much power Dana has in her tumbling, as she was able to adjust quickly and preserve the pass.  Her dance elements included a double turn to wolf popa and a side-straddle leap to straddle half-turn to straddle Shushonova combination and a ring leap.  A 9.55?

Erin Rightley (9.650) and Alexis Brion (9.675) were mainly deducted for respective steps out of bounds and Erin also scooted back a bit on the landing of her Rudi (front through to a 1½ twist).  Erin's final pass (front-front full-front pike) was executed perfectly and may be one reason why the judges scored her at a 9.75 before taking the mandatory .1 off for the step out in comparison to Pierce's routine that did not have a step out.   Alexis' opening whip to bhs to double pike was executed to perfection.  Her height on this element continues to amaze us.  The double tuck final tumbling pass was added for extra difficulty this week and she again had great height but had to take one step back on the landing and unfortunately it was just over the line.  Dana Filetti (9.725) stood up the double front Arabian (E level) and both of her front tumbling passes (whip full to front full; whip full to front layout) but was likely deducted for the cowboy form and a balance step and for not completely sticking her landings on the final tumbling passes.  Dance elements were executed with extra emphasis on connecting with the crowd. Terin Humphrey debuted her floor routine and thrilled the Bama faithful with her "E" level tumbling passes (opened with a full in double pike, followed by a triple twist and ended with a 1 ½ to a 2 ½, just touching down her hand on the final element).  Despite receiving a 9.250 Terin seemed happy that she was back competing on the floor and future efforts will likely have much better results. There was one point in her dance sequence (just prior to the final tumbling pass) that seemed a little void of continuity and flow.   Mari Bayer (9.750) was definitely more impressive to the crowd and the Bama fans present than the judges, who scored this excellent routine at a 9.70 and a 9.80 respectively.  We were unable to determine where 2 and 3 tenths worth of deductions came from after reviewing the tape.  Michelle Reeser exhibited on the floor and touched her hand down on her opening double pike.  The second and third passes were  solid (front full to front full; whip ½ to layout-stepout).

Balance Beam (Team Total: 48.250)

Shannon Hrozek received the high score of the day on this event with a 9.850 for a superb routine: bhs-layout-bhs flight series; switch leap to wolf; hitch kick to sheep jump and a double twist that she landed right down the center of the beam, legs together and a stuck landing.  She attacked and nailed every element and the judges rewarded her accordingly.  Terin Humphrey (9.825) had more difficulty but took a small step forward of her right foot on the landing of her double tuck dismount and Michelle Reeser (9.300) was deducted for technically falling onto the beam during her Korbut (back dive out of a layout).  Her two leap series were excellent (switch leap to wolf and the switch leap to straddle-straddle jump combination) and she nailed the back handspring to gainer full twist dismount. 

The more interesting beam routines in terms of scoring by the judges included Rachael Delahoussaye's (9.550), Dana Filetti's (9.500) and Mari Bayer's (9.525).  Rachael's routine was solid and free of breaks and balance checks throughout.  Despite the fact that her routine technically comes from a 10.00 start level with the current code of points, the judges apparently were looking for competitive elements more in line with combinations of skills.  For example, Rachael has a wolf full jump that gives her three-tenths bonus if executed perfectly but she does not throw a leap combination series, such as a switch leap to wolf.  She also throws a very difficult switch side leap that garners her three-tenths bonus if executed perfectly according to the code of points.  Her back handspring to layout met her requirement for a flight series and she dismounted with a gainer back pike.  So the judges basically gave her credit for doing the required elements but did not give her anywhere near full credit for her bonus skills despite the fact that she executed all without a break or even a noticeable balance check. This indicates to us that they deducted for composition. Filetti's routine was scored appropriately when her execution breaks are taken into consideration (a small but definite shoulder break on the layout landing and a major break at the waist on her sheep jump, which likely eliminated most of her bonus credit and reduced the overall value of her routine in the judges' eyes).   Dana also likely received deductions for overall composition  in terms of her tuck full and sheep jumps not being connected to another leap or jump, thus not being up to par in the judges' eyes.  However, she did execute a super straddle-straddle-wolf jump combination that had excellent flexibility and amplitude this week.  The coaches may have been advised to change these two routines to include at least one running leap combination series. Dana also was off center on the landing of her double twist and hopped to the left a bit as well.  And Mari Bayer's routine was harshly deducted on her flight series when she broke at the shoulder on the front aerial landing and she also had a major bend at the waist after landing the switch ½ leap.