heads to Auburn University to take on the talented Tigers. Roll Tide and goodnight from the beautiful Coleman Coliseum.

gives them credit for pumping the team up to a great victory.

that will be posted on the website and used for future promotionals.

routine on floor. Looked like a 10 to us! Ashley O'Neal is also being interviewed for a fantastic debut in front of the home crowd. She hit an awesome beam routine for 9.80 and the floor routine as well (9.80). Her vault was strong as well.

A happy crowd that arrived is now going home happier. Bama goes next to Auburn and will then go to Kentucky before returning on the 10th of February to face the Gymdawgs.

include:
Vault: Miles (1st), Rue and Magee (2nd)
Bars: Humphrey (1st), Lutz and Banville (2nd)
Beam: Lutz (1st), King (9.825), O'Neal (3rd)
Floor: Miles (1st), Murray (2nd), Banville and Magee (3rd)

Hartung was the lone all arounder and scored a 38.575.

The keys to victory that we discussed earlier came true. Florida had to count falls on bars and beam and this cost them the victory. Alabama was aggressive on the opening events, putting enough of a buffer between them and the Gators to allow for some unexpected nerves on balance beam to get settled before hitting the floor routines. Freshmen hit and sometimes missed at certain points but overall did their part. They will only get better and certainly fed off the crowd, especially on the floor.

to Florida's 194.625. More to come.

turn to see Erin Rightley nail her huge double pike and the front-front full to front punch layout!! Where did that come from? Nice expression and a fierce, determined look to her as she hits her elements. She will finish with a front through to a Rudi (1 1/2). Yeah! That's the routine we knew she could do. Everyone seems to be feeding off each's other's strong efforts here tonight, so keep it rolling over the next few weeks.

and the third largest crowd to watch a collegiate gymnastics meet.

Second pass of front-front full-punch layout and finishes with a stuck double pike. She hits the final dance gesture with a direct salute to her head Coach, Sarah Patterson and they are both finishing with a huge grin. Gotcha!

Ashley Miles is tearing off the roof and she has not started her routine yet! The crowd is ready for this routine.

Coleman Coliseum. We need to bank one more routine and we can go home happy.

Lutz receives a 9.85 for her beam routine.

to lift a leg but boy she nails the whip-whip back handspring to double pike (crowd goes AHHHHH).

Lutz followed and hit her routine pretty well.

pike and a huge smile as she hits the final choreography move. Rachael Delahoussaye immediately embraces her and Mel responds with a bear hug of her own in relief!!

Melanie Banville is now up for the Tide. Sell it babe! She nails the pike full in to open.

stands it up nevertheless and should score well. She seemed to sell her routine even better this week.

and her second pass of the double pike! She finishes with a 2 1/2 twist. Martin gets a 9.275 on floor (gasp! she didn't fall!)

Rue throws the back handspring to back pike, nice! scissor jump to back handspring. Lots of confidence and flow to this routine. Hitch kick to side aerial. Dismounts with a gainer full twist off the side, hop on the landing.

Arabian, deep landing forward as well. She bails on the front full out of the front layout and tucks it instead; finishes with a strong double twist. Crowd loves her anyway.

Back handspring to layout stepout, full turn, scissor jump to straddle full. Falls on front aerial.

and hits a running punch tuck to round off back handspring to double tuck, nice! Second pass of a double pike, two balance steps back (adrenaline pumping!). She is selling the routine with a huge smile, hoping to garner every tenth! She hits the final pass (front, front full, front layout) and the fans love it! She is a crowd pleaser!

Reed is hitting her elements but is very slow and deliberate. Dismounts with a double twist, one step, slight pike down.

146.45 to 146.25 for the Gators.

pumping up the Tide on the floor to bring home this victory!!!

Hartung received a 9.80 on floor.

Erin Rightley is exhibiting for the Tide on beam. She does a terrific routine and scores a 9.75.

Terin is through her mount, the flight series and the punch front (step forward on the landing, leg lift a bit too). Nice Omeliantchik, dismounts with the gainer full twist. Nerves were definitely present tonight on the beam. Gals may have been shaken a bit by the dismount fall of Miles.

of it to recover nicely. She is using Silvia Mitova's music from 1991 Worlds. It should have been officially retired after Mitova's gorgeous set. Second pass of a 2 1/2 twist, nicely done. Hartung has beautiful lines and expression on this event but is still polishing some of her tumbling and dance moves.

type and will hit you bigtime. Martin is through her ring leap (small check on the landing) and the front aerial and the back handspring to layout step-out. She throws the switch leap (balance check) and then the double stag leap (another check, so no bonus) and dismounts with the back handspring to gainer full twist. Aheeeee!

bent at the knees but she does not touch down. Music is Shania Twain "Man! I feel like a woman!" Finishes with a double tuck.

check and leg lift on the landing. Nice switch 1/2 turn and a front aerial. Double stag leap (head back) with a slight balance check on the landing and she throws a switch leap to straddle side jump combination (balance check) and nails the gainer back pike dismount. Whoosh!

Rue of Florida finishes with a double pike, nice difficulty for the junior.

Rue hits her tuck full in to open her routine.

Ashley O'Neal, another freshman is now up and hits the back handspring to layout stepout and the switch leap to straddle-straddle combination and a super punch front. She dismounts with a double front - nails it!

Rai hits her first pass (sorry, we can't see because the Florida Gators are standing in front of us).

to close. Magee receives a 9.775 and Ashley Miles hits her mount of the round off to layout step-out just right! Nice switch leap to straddle side jump combination and a wolf full. Gainer back handspring to layout step-out, right on. She hits the switch leap to Korbut and works low on the beam before preparing for her dismount, the double twist out of a round off and crashes! Missed her foot on the ending (unbelievable, a great routine up to that point).

and completes the front aerial, punch front, switch leap to wolf and lands the double tuck dismount chest high this week. Yes!

and our youngest gymnast, Brittany Magee, will lead the team this week on the beam.

in the competition, freshman! Three minute touch has now begun. Gators move to the floor, Tide to the beam.

Mari Bayer exhibited on bars and received a 9.775. Definitely a more confident routine reminiscent of her fall practice reps on this event, so hopefully she is getting that old confidence back.

the Tide's scoring and receives a 9.90. Huge smile for the crowd as she sticks the double layout dismount. Tide has a 49.125 on the bars and the Gators a 48.975 on the vault.

distance but very nice form in the air.

and a double front dismount. She receives a 9.825.

on the low bar, which she had to perfect in 3 weeks. She threw a toe-on toe-off to full turn to Tkatchev and a beautiful double layout dismount for a 9.850. Wonderful to see that confidence back on this event. Looks like she will be a regular now in the line-up.

immediate pak Salto (9.80). Beautiful form but the judges are taking tenths off for minor checks to get the gals to clean it up.

Hartung throws the Yurchenko 1/1 and receives a 9.725 for piking it down and hopping forward a little.

Priess is up now and completes her routine with a hop forward on the Arabian double front. Nice toe-on toe-off towards the end of that routine and earlier a full turn to booming Tkatchev! A 9.75 (argh). Her sister Ashley was in the audience tonight with her parents to watch big sister perform. RTR.

foward on the landing, a little off center as well but nice distance.

Nice full turn to Geinger combination and a pak Salto transition.

Tracy Rai will start the vault for the Gators, throwing a Yurchenko 1/1, which is piked down and a hop occurs on the landing as well. Nice run and power up and through the vault.

looks like a go. Banville threw a nice Tkatchev right then. Let's go Tide!

The ticket office has had to stop selling tickets out front, so already this meet is a huge success, regardless of the winner.

Gators a 48.200 after Owens received a 9.250 for her bars routine.

Owens is now up, the lone senior on the team. Nice full turn to Tkatchev but she has to touch down on the full in dismount, so another low score, one of which will have to be counted for the Gators.

Magee gets a 9.850 for a stupendous Yurchenko 1/1! And Miles just stuck her Yurchenko 1/1, huge smile on her face. A little off to the right on the landing but she'll clean that up in the next few weeks.

"Go To Gymnast" award for hitting her follow up routine, which included a Markelov and full in dismount. Stalders were thrown at two points as well for a 9.80.

Kaitlin White scored a 9.725 for her Yurchenko 1/1 and O'Neal gets a 9.80.

and hit the low bar and then touched down on her tuck full in dismount.

so the scoring is going to be very tight tonight. Reed receives a 9.60 for her bars routine.

Ashley Reed is now up and throws a Tkatchev but has trouble on the giant uprise and breaks but does not fall. Nice double layout to finish. Some deductions will come, possibly 3-4 tenths or more.

Filetti hits the Hristakieva, one small step forward on the landing. She had that fierce, determined look on her face as she ran towards the vault.

forward on the double front dismount. Nice rotation of the giants and a shaposhnikova transition looked crisp.

and throws a beautiful effort, legs tightly together throughout the twist and one small step on the landing.

Florida is ready to go.

tonight are Mary Lou Dillard and Linda Morton (she was at the Penn State meet last week).

For Bars, Sandy Oldham and Patty Vitale.

On the Beam the judges are Linda Morton and Sandy Oldham.

On floor, Mary Lou Dillard and Patty Vitale.

Well, the ladies on both sides are wearing pink. Gators are in a light pink with white contrast on the upper shoulders and arms, a shiny metallic material on the bodice.

Bama is in hot pink with a contrasting silver white pink ribbon undulating on the upper bodice and around the back. Very shiny material on the bodice and a darker netting on the upper shoulders and arms.

the 3 minute touch.

Ashley Miles is vaulting tonight, the original line-up was wrong. Filetti will be in the 2nd position instead of Ford and Miles in the anchor. Wheesh, thank you ghost of Bear Bryant!

Coleman. Brenda Ladun is now addressing the crowd and praising them for showing up in such large numbers to support this cause.

Sarah hugs all the reps here giving and receiving this excellent donation. Fans went wild when they heard the total, which should get bigger in the years to come. This thing is not going to stop, it's got too much momentum now in the greater Tuscaloosa and Birmingham metro communities, so it will be a pink meet every year for the Tide from now on.

This is overwhelming, the crowd is electric.

and Melanie is noted for her 2004 Olympian position on the Canadian National Team and a 4.0 GPA this past Fall. Erin Rightley a 3.9 this past fall, Dana Pierce a 3.6 overall GPA, 3.9 for Rachael Delahoussaye and 3.4 for Dana Filetti, 3.5 this past fall for Mari Bayer and 3.5 for Ashley Miles.

is in a frenzy as the Tide runs out in hot pink and silver warm-ups.

have now been introduced and we're happy to note that our announcer, Tony Giles, recognized each Gator gymnast for being an All American or a Scholastic All American.

and there are hot pink shakers everywhere. The newly renovated Coliseum is looking fantastic, especially the Club area that we can see from our spots here on press row. The band is hot too!

the tuck position, worth a 9.90.

On the bars, White, Priess, Martin, Banville, Filetti, and Humphrey will go.

On the beam, Magee will start, Miles, O'Neal, Bayer, Martin and Humphrey will follow.

On floor, O'Neal will open, Martin, Humphrey, Banville, Magee, and Miles will follow.

it appears that even though she warmed up and was doing fine that they are going to hold her out on this event. Miles has never missed a vault line-up except for the few weeks during her freshman year that she had a knee problem that cleared up with rest. The big "go to gun" tonight on this event will be Magee.

pink leos. The Bama Bounders are now on the floor to entertain the crowd and they are in pink leos as well for tonight's exhibition. Big Al is nearby, asking for hugs from the WVUA radio crew and waving a hot pink shaker at Chad Anderson.

for the Florida Gators will be to focus on their routines and avoid having to count a fall on the opening event, bars, or the balance beam. The junior class has to lead by example and hope the Tide encounters problems along the way with their reliance on the freshmen.

For Alabama the keys to victory are to (1) use the home arena to their advantage from the opening event, vault, by hitting each and building the momentum and thereby putting the pressure on the Gators early. (2) Be aggressive on the big skills, especially the beam and floor. Bama has more than sufficient difficulty but must attack these two events in particular to bring the potential high scores home. (3) Seniors must lead by hitting their routines when called upon. Should be a great meet tonight no matter the outcome.

pike full in. Nice double layout from Miles just then.

Banville, Magee, Miles and Rightley. Kaitlin White's dance expression is great tonight.

O'Neal, Rightley and Bayer. Ashley has put the round off to layout step-out mount back in and will dismount with a double twist.

long warm-ups after taking a hiatus last week. Banville, White, Filetti, Martin, Priess, Miles, Humphrey are working the bars tonight and are looking a little tight at first but then work through this to some nice dismounts.

Alabama Crimson Tide, taking on the Florida Gators.

Right now the Tide has completed long warm-ups on the vault and the Gators on the bars. Bama definitely showed spark and electricity during the vault runs and the coaches were pleased. Looks like we'll see Filetti, Miles, White, Magee, Banville, O'Neal in the line-up on this event.