Alabama entered the 2005 SEC Championships with high expectations of bringing home their sixth title but two things got in the way immediately: (1) the worst rotation draw possible, that included a start on the balance beam and a bye on every alternating rotation and (2) a red-hot Georgia team and a semi-hot LSU team with championship dreams of their own.  

Because of the byes on every alternating rotation, the Tide was never able to establish critical momentum from one event to another at any point during the meet.  This posed a coaching challenge as well, one that the Alabama coaches had never faced before.  However, Alabama was able to overcome the sub-par team performances on beam and floor by posting the meet's highest team totals on vault (49.300) and uneven bars (49.450), enroute to a respectable 3^rd Place showing of 196.700 (.275 behind 2^nd place LSU , .550 behind 1^st place Georgia ).  

Congratulations are in order to the Gymdawgs and the Bengal Tigers for exceptional performances when it counted.  Kudos also to Bama's Ashley Miles for winning the vault, floor exercise and sharing the uneven bars title with new teammate, Terin Humphrey .  As far as we're concerned, Ashley is THE "Gymnast of the Year" for the SEC, being the only athlete to finish 1^st in the regular season rankings on vault and floor exercise and nabbing four SEC Gymnast of the Week Honors along the way.  Terin and Kaitlin White get our nod for "Freshmen of the Year", having overcome a late season start and injury respectively to help pace the Tide in 2005. 

Time to review the Tide's routines and ponder what we can possibly expect at the Central Regional Championship on April 9^th in Tuscaloosa .

Balance Beam: 48.875

Rachael Delahoussaye (9.725) had no significant execution errors or even obvious bobbles in her routine but she did appear to take a little extra time at various points to "set up" her skills that may have cost her. 

Michelle Reeser (9.775) also had a clean routine and even when she did a 1 ¼ turn on the beam she never balked and made it look like it was part of her original plan.  Flight series looked strong (bhs-layout-Korbut) and the switch leap to wolf jump, followed later by a switch leap to straddle jump were just fine.  She also stuck the dismount of a back handspring to gainer full twist.

Shannon Hrozek (9.825) had a terrific routine (bhs-layout-bhs; switch leap to wolf; stuck double twist dismount).  She was deducted most likely for a slight shoulder drop after landing the sheep jump (out of hitch kick combination).

Mari Bayer (9.850) had just the tiniest of balance checks here and there that kept this score from being 9.90 or higher.  The running switch leap with a ½ turn was executed to perfection.

Ashley Miles (9.275) was heading to a 9.90 score or higher until the dismount of the round-off to double tuck.   She apparently hit her head again on the end of the beam per her post-meet comments.  She ended up sitting it down and a collective groan of agony was heard down along Bama's press row area. 

Terin Humphrey (9.700) was a bit tentative on the triple turn mount but pulled it around and also on the full-twisting back handspring (Kotchetkova), choosing to execute it as a single skill before then throwing the back handspring to layout-stepout without a glitch.  The switch leap to Omeliantchik (3/4 twisting back handspring to split handstand position) was solid but she popped forward on the round off-double tuck dismount again. 

BYE #1: Team withdraws to locker room to talk about their beam performance and prepare to rock the next event.

Floor Exercise: 49.075

Shannon Hrozek (9.150) definitely rocked her first two passes (huge double pike, front-front full-front pike) but over-rotated the landing of her third pass (double tuck) and tried fiercely to save it with a deep-knee landing before succumbing to the force of gravity.  Unfortunately her landing was also out of bounds, an automatic one-tenth deduction.  The good news is that Shannon has never had back-to-back floor mishaps, a positive sign for Regionals.

Erin Rightley (9.550) definitely had what Coach Patterson described later as the "deer in the headlights" look as she took the floor next.  She had experienced a lot of trouble during long warm-ups on the floor with her opening pass (huge double pike) in terms of not staying in bounds and the same occurred during her competitive routine.  She also scooted a bit on the landing of the front through to a Rudi (1 ½ twist) but finished the front-front full-front pike with excellent control.  We were later told that one of the judges just assumed that she had fallen on the first pass and gave her a 9.250.  Fortunately, the other judges kept their eyes on Erin and scored her more accurately.  It was that kind of night.

Mari Bayer (9.800) bounced back (and stayed in bounds) with a terrific routine and the best choreography of the night next to Ashley's.  One step back on the double pike to open, nice control on the front-front full-front tuck and a strong double twist to end.  Coach Patterson has noted in her post-meet shows that Mari is being deducted by some judges by .05 to .10 for ending with a "C" pass, which the double twist is now valued at.  With a combination move (double twist to a punch front or to a Shushonova) this routine could easily score above 9.90. 

Terin Humphrey (9.900) also rebounded for the team, highlighted by strong tumbling (piked full in to open, 2 ½ twist to punch front, ending with a 1 ½ to a 2 ½ twist combination) and wonderful choreography as well.  As Lori Strong would say, "Such difficulty!"

Alexis Brion (9.875) nailed the opening whip-bhs-double pike, the front-front full-front tuck (on a dime) and ended with a super high double tuck.  There were lots of bemused looks along press row when this score came up.

Ashley Miles (9.950) executed every tumbling pass and her signature "funkadelic" dance moves like a skilled surgeon: double layout, front-front full-front layout, double pike.

BYE #2: Team exits arena to regroup and prepare for a "gut check" vault performance.

Vault: 49.300

Shannon Hrozek (9.850) hopped back on her landing of a super Yurchenko 1/1 vault, which cost her the extra tenth she was gunning for.  Great start regardless.

Brittany Comeaux (9.700) had execution form problems, including leg separation during the difficult twisting of this vault (Yurchenko ½ on - front tuck - ½ off tuck), and she also landed off balance (shoulder drop, step).  Not her best effort but we expect her to pick up her performance by Regionals.

Kaitlin White (9.850) was inserted into the line-up when Dana Filetti was struggling with her twisting of the full twist on-back pike off vault, no doubt due to reported back strain in recent weeks.  The freshman performed the way we knew she could, throwing the Yurchenko 1/1 with excellent form and a stuck landing.  She was very proud and saluted her family in the nearby stands as she ran back to her teammates.

Terin Humphrey (9.825) was under-scored in our opinion for the Yurchenko ½ on - front pike - ½ off (pike out).  She achieved excellent height, distance and had good body control (legs together) throughout.  Likely deduction occurred for the hop back on the landing but she was not suitably rewarded for the unique difficulty of this vault. 

Alexis Brion (9.850) stuck the front pike ½ twist, no wobbles or dropped shoulders.  We're not perplexed, we're plain peeved!

Ashley Miles (9.925) had great height, distance and excellent form as usual on the Yurchenko 1/1 but was deducted for a hop back on the landing. 

BYE #3: Team exits once again, this time feeling more confident in their ability to rebound and possibly place in the Top Three.

Uneven Bars: 49.450

Brittany Comeaux (9.850) started things off with a bang, hitting her booming Tkatchev release and her handstands and almost perfectly executing the landing of the E-level dismount (double front), smallest of foot checks occurring.

Shannon Hrozek (9.850) also hit her handstands, the Gienger release out of a full turn and the double tuck dismount.  The E-level dismount (Arabian) will not reappear in her future routines due to jamming her knee in practice recently. 

Dana Filetti (9.850) threw a super routine of her own, hitting her handstands and the Gienger release as well (leg separation as she came down), ending with a double front that had both revolutions above the high bar.  Wow.

Ashley Miles (9.950) finally received the score she has been aiming for after executing the most difficult routine next to Terin's, highlighted by the Shaposhnikova transition to the high bar, followed by a huge Hindorff release and a superbly stuck double layout dismount.  Wow, part II.

Mari Bayer (9.800) hit all of her major moves, including the pike Jaeger release and the full turn to double tuck dismount.  Beautiful extension, toe-point and uprise to handstand positions as usual.

Terin Humphrey (9.950) iced the cake on this event with Ashley like they wanted to do on the balance beam.  Beautiful stalder to a ½ turn to a front giant to a Khorkina release, followed by another precision handstand (several gasps on press row at this point) before another full turn on the high bar, followed by a perfect transition to handstand on the low bar, ending with her first stuck double layout of the year.   E-level wow.

Outlook For Regionals

Despite a disappointing team performance at the SEC Championships, Alabama is still considered to be one of the favorite teams to win the National Championship title in April.  But they must first finish in the top two at the Central Regional Championships, which they host in Tuscaloosa on April 9^th.  The Tide will start on the uneven bars, move next to the balance beam and then go out on a bye before finishing on their two strongest events, floor exercise and vault.  They will sit out the last rotation on a bye.    The home crowd will be a huge boost and barring injury or late-season aches that might prevent high-level performances when they need it, Bama has an excellent chance to qualify to nationals.  The following are some "keys to victory" that will factor heavily in the outcome:

Uneven Bars : The coaches are expected to keep the same line-up and order as the SEC Championships.  Bama will need to attack the bars with a similar attitude from beginning to end that is relentless and determined to get the highest score possible.  With the exception of a few routines of Iowa State's, no other team in this competition can match the Tide on bars for form, difficulty of release moves and number of D- and E-level dismounts.  But execution is what counts. This is where leadership must come immediately from Filetti and Hrozek to start and Miles and Humphrey in the clean-up spots.

Balance Beam : The same line-up and order is predicted, but a change may occur if either Filetti or Pierce are performing exceptionally well during long warm-ups.  The coaches have stated that they must have scoring potential in their routines on beam of 9.80 or higher as the team moves into post-season competition.  Again, execution is the key along with a deliberate mind-set that refuses to fail.  Delahoussaye and Filetti have been the consistent workhorses (despite Arkansas judging) this year on beam but everyone has faltered at some point during the season.  Look for Delahoussaye to anchor the lead-off in the post-season and be joined most likely by Hrozek, Bayer, Miles, Humphrey and Filetti or Reeser.  Ashley and Terin will once again be called upon to provide leadership in the clean-up spots.

Floor Exercise: Bama just needs to do what they did against Stanford and North Carolina : throw six exceptional routines with confident, in bounds tumbling and dance/smile like it's their last routine forever.  Likely line-up and order: Hrozek, Bayer, Rightley, Brion, Humphrey, Miles with Pierce, Filetti and Reeser backing up as needed.

Vault: The Tide will have the option of putting Filetti or White in the line-up, again depending upon who has the best warm-ups.  Look for the senior, Hrozek to start, Comeaux, White or Filetti to follow, with Humphrey, Brion and Miles to anchor.    

We'll have more in-depth analysis of the routines and expected line-ups leading up to Regionals, including a possible practice report.  Let's have a huge crowd on April 9^th to cheer the team on to victory and be sure to join us at www.gymtide.com or New Rock 90.7 WVUA in the post-season.  Roll Tide!