Medalist Club: Postmeet Buzz: 14) NCAA National Championship - Finals (Fri)

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The Medalist Club - Gymtide.com

(Last modified: 12:58 PM (Sat Apr 22, 2006)) [MeetCentral] [Scores]
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As the old coach used to say: Sometimes, all you can do is tip your cap. The undefeated GymDogs proved once again to be worthy of their number one ranking, but the plucky, underdog GymTide gave them a battle none-the-less.

The first buzz of the night has to go to All-American Brittany Magee. The Tide freshman phenom bounced back from her fall on beam Thursday afternoon to put in a stellar performance in the Super Six.

The second buzz goes to Erin Rightley and Mari Bayer. We did the math and their falls on beam did not cost Bama the championship. They were disappointed in their performances, however, from our vantage point directly beyond one end of the beam, we could tell you that their errors came not from holding back and playing it safe, but rather from giving it their all to be perfect. They knew it would take near perfection on beam to beat a team on vault, especially a great team like Georgia.

Ashley Miles was her usual brilliant self in the final, coming in second in the all-around to Georgia's Courtney Kupets. And, if Bama's and Georgia's rotations had been swapped, putting Ashley's stronger events last instead of first, who knows?

The folks at Oregon State have done a fine job hosting the championships and we would like to congratulate them. Once again, we want to say that way they post the scoring, with the individual scores, the event runnning total, and the meet running total for each team being rotated through on their matrix boards is outstanding. You're never more than just a quick glance or two from knowing exactly where your team stands at all times.

Dana Filetti had a huge meet, posting a 9.850 on vault and a 9.875 on uneven bars. Honestly, we thought her performances were even a little better than those great scores. Earlier in the season, someone put forward the idea that every gymnast wanting a chance to compete in the event finals on vault would have to throw a second, different vault in their Thursday session to qualify. We immediately said why not make it four different vaults and just hand the trophy to Dana! In fact, if gymnastics had an 'all-stars skills' competition like basketball, Dana would likely be a favorite to win.

There was a lot of discussion after the meet about the two GymTide seniors who didn't compete: Rachael Delahoussaye and Dana Pierce. There is so much more to having a winning program than just what goes on out there on the competition floor. Tide fans are familiar with all the trials and tribulations Rachael has been through with her wrist injury and hurricane Katrina. What they are not as familiar with is how tirelessly she has worked to keep her teammates spirits up and to help the coaching staff with that other key ingredient to success: recruiting. Much the same could be said for Dana. And, it's a rare home meet when a total stranger doesn't come up to us and compliment Dana on her outreach work in the Tuscaloosa community. When gymnasts are recruited to Alabama, they are told that they are expected to be diligent students, dedicated team gymnasts, and role models. You could hope for no finer examples of that than Rachael and Dana.

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