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The Medalist Club - Gymtide.com
The Booster Organization for the University of Alabama Gymnastics Program
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Post Meet Commentary: NCAA National Championship - IND Events (Sat) (Saturday, April 22, 2006) [MeetCentral] [Scores] [PlayByPlay] [Postmeet] [Buzz] 2006 NCAA Championships: Tide Colors It Bronze
The Alabama Crimson Tide claimed the 3rd Place bronze trophy at the 2006 NCAA Championships in Corvallis, Oregon, the fifth straight year that Alabama as a team has achieved no less than a Top 3 national finish. Along the way, Bama capped off a 14-1 regular season, a 2nd Place showing at the SEC Championships and a 1st Place West Regional victory. The accomplishments of the 2006 GymTide are pretty impressive when considering the number of key routines performed by pure freshmen throughout the season. In retrospect, the addition of freshman Brittany Magee to the team in January was truly a blessing, as she contributed critical, high-scoring routines throughout the regular and post-season meets, especially on vault, beam and floor. And by mid-season, 2004 Canadian Olympian Melanie Banville was showing fans why she was one of the most highly recruited all around gymnasts in the nation, tumbling impressive elite skills on the floor and uneven bars especially. It was particularly exciting to see Melanie persevere from her initial struggles on the balance beam in January to achieve 2nd Team All America status on this event at NCAAs. Freshmen Ashley O'Neal (vault, beam, floor), Courtney Priess (uneven bars, beam, floor) and Cassie Martin (all around) were called upon early and often as the coaches worked out rotation orders that would provide the highest team scoring potential on each event. Sophomores Terin Humphrey and Kaitlin White contributed clutch performances at several points throughout the season and are now moving into key leadership roles for the team as they enter their junior campaign in 2007. Junior Erin Rightley had her best season ever, as she secured a regular spot in the balance beam and floor exercise rotations. Her work ethic in the gym during pre-season really paid off for the team and she earned a scholarship in the process for her senior year.
And speaking of seniors, the 2006 Tide veterans, Mari-Christine Bayer, Rachael Delahoussaye, Dana Filetti, Ashley Miles and Dana Pierce , will depart as one of the most successful UA classes ever, having won the 2003 SEC Championship as freshmen, three regional titles, taking 2nd at NCAAs twice, and finishing no lower than 3rd in their four years of competition. The scholastic achievements of this class are just as impressive, underscoring Coach Patterson's philosophy from the point of recruitment to the end of the student athlete's career at the Capstone regarding the importance of securing an accredited, competitive degree in order to prepare for a successful future. And now that we've applauded the many team accomplishments, let's highlight some of the individual achievements. Individual Honors Senior Ashley Miles was tapped as the Honda Award winner for top collegiate gymnast in 2006 and was recently announced as one of the Top Five finalists for the Honda-Broderick Cup, which is annually awarded to the NCAA top collegiate female athlete. Alabama gymnasts took home several All-America honors at the 2006 NCAAs as well, including sophomore Terin Humphrey (balance beam, 1st team), Ashley Miles (all around, vault, floor exercise, 1st team) and freshmen Melanie Banville (balance beam, 2nd team) and Brittany Magee (floor exercise, 2nd team).
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