Medalist Club: Postmeet Buzz: 12) NCAA West Regional Championships

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The Medalist Club - Gymtide.com

(Last modified: 12:08 AM (Thu Apr 13, 2006)) [MeetCentral] [Scores]
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Time for some congratulations and some ‘thank yous’. Of course, first, congratulations to the GymTide, you performed in the clutch like champions tonight. The whole BamaGymNation is so proud of you. Thanks so much for a wonderful year of gymnastics, but more than that, thanks for representing so well what Bama gymnastics is all about. Also, a huge thanks goes out to all Medalist Club members. No other gymnastics booster club even comes close - you're the best! No thank you for the booster club would be complete without mentioning president Pat Huet, who has worked tirelessly to make this year what it truly was: special, indeed. A big thanks also goes to the Medalist Club board and committee chairs, to the PBAs, to Rah-Rah and Susan, to Mr. Chad Anderson, to Mr. Roots Woodruff, and to our webmaster here at GymTide.com - if you enjoy the meets and the meet coverage, these folks deserve a lot of the credit.

Now, of course, the season's not done. Bama has that little thing called Nationals left. Be sure to keep an eye on this website in the coming days, we hope to bring as much of what's going on in Corvallis and environs as possible. And if you're going to join us at Oregon State, be doubly sure to check in for times and rotations - and maybe a 'fan event' or two out there.

On to the buzz for the meet, what about that Ashley Miles and Brittany Magee on vault and floor? It has become almost as much fun to watch Ashley and Brittany compete for scores on those two events as it is to watch the team competition.

Melanie Banville proved once again that she has a warrior's heart. After a tough start on floor and vault, she rocked on bars for a 9.90 and then stepped up with a huge 9.875 on beam. Much the same could be said for Terin Humphrey, who missed some practice time after SEC's to attend her brother's wedding, but who none-the-less competed three events, getting better and better as the night wore on - culminating with a 9.90 ‘exclamation point’ on beam for Bama's last routine of the night.

Kaitlin White has to get some consideration as the ‘go to’ gymnast of the night. When Melanie was having her struggles to start off the meet, Kaitlin was right there with a 9.60 filling in for Terin on floor. Now, that’s a little lower than you might hope for, but it counted – proving what the coaches say, that you have to save every tenth you can during championship season. Then Kaitlin stepped up with a 9.80 on vault, the second highest score for the Bama vault team after Ashley’s and Brittany’s above mentioned vault-winning 9.90’s.

Mari Bayer, from nearby San Jose, turned in 9.85 marks on both bars and beam in Stanford's Maples Pavilion, the site of the West Regional. Almost incredibly, this feat actually decreased her scoring average in that building. At last year's dual meet in Palo Alto, Mari scored a 9.875 on beam and 9.90 on both bars and floor. 'Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home', even so, we're sure glad Mari chose to make her home with us these last four years.

"Brittany Magee was amazing tonight," Patterson said, after the Tide freshman scored 9.90 on both floor and vault (tying Ashley Miles for first place on both events) and a 9.85 leading off on beam. "Amazing" is exactly the right word. Brittany has been amazing since she got to campus in late December.

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