Great week in and week out performances from White, Martin, O'Neal, Overton and Rightley.

to the fans on the radio and in the Coliseum.

Morgan Dennis and Clare-Kearney (1) and Terin Humphrey (2)

Vault: Ashleigh Clare Kearney (1), Nikki Butler (2), Ricki Lebegern (2)
Bars: Terin Humphrey (1), Summer Hubbard (2), Nikki Butler (2)
Beam: Ricki Lebegern (1), Terin Humphrey (2), Clare-Kearney (2)
Floor: Morgan Dennis (1), Lauren Klein (2), Susan Jackson (3)

to a front double twist, nice landing; follows with a super high double pike for her second pass and closes with a front through to a full twist, solid! She scores a 9.700. She was possibly deducted for the discrepancy in difficulty of the first and final passes (E to open, C to close). Music this year is not as crowd-engaging as last year's, the dance really fits the music from last year better it seems.

connection on a leap series and took the shuffles on her dismount. Kristi Esposito is exhibiting now for the fans. She is a first team All America on this event and probably will be in their line-up by post-season.

high double layout. Second pass this week is a super tuck full in! Just nailed it! Finishes with a front tuck through to a double tuck, nails it again but is slightly off the music, so a small deduction will be required. She receives a 9.95. Bama wins it!

with a double twist dismount, two steps back.

Terin Humphrey pops up and back on the double front Arabian a bit but lands it, hits the 1 1/2 through to a 2 1/2 and finishes with a terrific double pike. Crowd loves this routine.

Ricki Lebegern follows with a terrific triple twist to open, front-front full to front pike, very nice control on that landing as well; finishes with a double pike, step forward on the landing so there will be a deduction there.

series look fine (one balance check on the second); side aerial; gainer front pike off the end of the beam. She receives a 9.875.

amplitude. The Ten Troupe are loving her right now! Round off to whip 1/2 to whip full twist, nice landing again; she will finish with the difficult punch front layout to an immediate 1 1/2 twist; ends right on time with the music.

Lisa Rennie falls twice on the beam (opening mount and later in routine with flight element).

Rightley is up next and opens with a super high double pike; beautiful 1 1/2 to layout step-out for her second pass; leap series better this week; she will finish with a front-front twist to a front layout, beautiful control on that landing this week.

BHS to bhs layout stepout; switch leap to gainer back handspring; switch side leap (straddle), slight shift to balance the landing; switch leap to switch leap; dismounts with a round off to double twist, nice landing, slight leg separation.

second pass of the front-front full twist to front layout; ends beautifully with a front tuck through to a double tuck, very nice landing this week and the crowd is back in it!

Sabrina Franceschelli in the hot spot. Full turn to open, bhs to layout stepout, punch front, low landing, switch leap to straddle to scissor leap, did not connect the first two elements; she dismounts with two steps back on the double tuck. She receives a 9.625.

The Tide needs to compete with panache and have fun out there.

Competing hard on every event and not letting up.

with a total on floor of 49.425, running total of 148.025 to the Tide's 147.875. They lead by .150.

Flight series, leap series all look good and she dismounts with a bhs to gainer full twist dismount.

Amanda Montgomery completes her exhibition and had a few balance checks here and there but got through the routine well, ending with a running front full twist, hop forward on the landing.

routine as well, including all elements (Kotchetkova, Omealintchik, double tuck dismount). She receives a 9.875. Six for six Bama! We knew you could do it.

Phelan receives a 9.875 for her floor routine and Klein is through the final routine for the LSU Tigers, opening with a tuck full in and ending with a double tuck, all solid landings. LSU looks very confident this year on floor and has increased their difficulty.

with an opening pass of double full twist to a tuck punch; double pike second; finishes with a front through to a 1 1/2 to a tuck barani (1/2).

series of the one arm bhs to layout stepout, the front aerial, switch leap to pike jump, punch front, 1 1/2 twisting dismount, one step forward on the landing. Boy what a great routine except for that final element.

Clare-Kearney opens with a double front Arabian but takes a lunge forward and just stays in bounds. Second pass of a super solid double pike; finishes with a round off whip 1/2 to front full twist to close out.

Morgan Dennis is now up and through her front aerial and a beautiful flight series of bhs to layout stepout; switch leap to tuck full to scissor jump; switch leap to another scissor jump; she dismounts with a round off to double tuck dismount, one step back on the landing. Great routine.

Butler opens with a triple twist to start her routine on floor. 2 1/2 to tuck on her second pass was a little short and she had to step back to balance the landing but stood it up. Finishes with a double twist, short on that landing and hops forward.

Lebegern is now up for the Tide and through her flight series, the switch leap to straddle-straddle combination; very nice running side straddle leap, full turn, side Somi, right on! Lebegern nails the double twist dismount off the end of the beam and the crowd erupts!

with a double pike to open. Front-front to front full twist, one step forward to balance the landing; double tuck to finish, slight jam, overall solid routine.

switch leap to straddle-straddle combo; bhs to layout stepout, slight shoulder/arm shift, full turn to sheep jump; switch side leap, bhs to gainer full twist off the side, small hop. Bama must start sticking those landings, they are giving vital tenths away.

Back headspring to open before the 2 1/2 to punch layout; split leap to straddle full; cat leap, double tuck for her second pass, nice landing; final pass is a double pike, nice landing. Solid opening routine.

Flight series is solid, switch leap to straddle-straddle combo looks great; full turn, punch front, landed high, one step forward to balance; dismounts with a running double front, one step to check the landing. Good start!

Bama must be brave - we need six for six on the beam!

LSU and Alabama are suddenly tied at 98.600.

after hitting her routine and adding a 1 1/2 to it in the process.

Nikki Butler hits the Y 1/1 for a 9.925 and Clare-Kearney for a 9.95.

The judges tonight are rewarding stuck dismounts off the bars. Morgan Dennis hits her routine but takes a step back on the landing of the double front for a 9.800.

Phelan hops back towards the vault on her Y 1/1, bent forward a bit as well, distance limited accordingly from the table.

full in, tiny step in place.

Rogers gets a 9.825, Franceschelli a 9.80 for their respective vaults

the pak Salto but glide kips back under the low bar instead of 1/2 turn on top and does not stop her rhythm, sticks the double tuck landing for a 9.75.

She vaults a Y 1/1, large step back, jammed just a bit but otherwise solid.

on the vault for a 9.90. Bama has a 49.450 on vault and LSU a 49.175 on bars (9.80 for Clare-Kearney's routine, which ended with a double tuck dismount, stuck).

to the low bar and she missed hitting vertical on at least two other handstands. She sticks the double layout dismount and the judges tonight seem to be rewarding the gymnasts for this primarily. Wacky world of gymnastics.

on the landing. She receives a 9.875.

dismount. She misses a few handstands along the way. Still gets a 9.85.

dismount.

Lebegern vaults the Y 1/1 and does not move on the landing! Should score well!

terrific pike 1/2 twist. Almost stuck it cold! Jackson of LSU gets a 9.825 for her bars.

Straddle Jaeger and a tuck full in dismount, stood it up nicely!

Kaitlin White follows with a Y 1/1 and a hop back on the landing but she stood it chest high this week. Needed a bit more amplitude.

Solid routine that included a healy.

Brittany Magee opens with the Yurchenko 1/1 and sticks it with a left foot shift on top of the right to hold her landing.

LSU is in deep purple and black velveteen with sheer black netting on the upper arms in a sweetheart bodice design.

Alabama is wearing the deep crimson leo with silver spangles in a starburst design on the upper bodice and back side. We call it the muscle leo because the team looks great in it and it really defines how toned they are.

tonight as a precaution, having a bit of an upset tummy. No need to risk. We will see Brittany Magee move into the bars line-up in Kassi's place and Morgan Dennis will take her place on balance beam.

into their collective seats so they can cheer their favorite team on. Let's go Bama!

video playing as they are being introduced. Way cool!

not been conducive to two events going on at the same time. The band is here with the cheerleaders getting the crowd into it. It's Tide Tykes night as well and the wee ones will be walking out with the gymtide as part of tonight's festivities.

Basically the keys are the same tonight for LSU and Alabama. These two teams are very close in terms of talent and the outcome of the meet will almost certainly come down to who stays on the bars and beam and suffers the fewest breaks. If Alabama avoids having to count a break on these two events, they should win the meet comfortably. But if LSU comes in with a "nothing to lose" attitude and hits their bars and beam routines, they have an excellent chance to upset the #4 team in the country. Should be a terrific competition!

crisp on vault or bars. If she warms up well on vault or bars for the 3 minute touch, the coaches may re-insert her. Last week she had a rough warm-up on bars but was such a trooper when competition time arrived, scoring a 9.95. She is not reporting any favoring of the left leg but may be simply pushing her elements a bit much when frustrated over not getting them the first time. This happened last week with Tiffany Tolnay of Georgia by report and she was removed from their meet's line-up accordingly. Sometimes the timing and mental readiness are not there so the coaches don't want to risk injury when they have the depth to replace a gymnast for one meet.

strong with this element.

and Erin Rightley in second, Kaitlin White third, Ricki Lebegern fourth, Terin Humphrey fifth and Morgan Dennis in the anchor position at 6th. Brittany Magee and Cassie Martin may exhibit.

15 minute warm-up.

Nice running front full twist from Amanda Montgomery, stuck it cold.

Brittany, Casey, Ricki, Terin, Morgan, Ashley, Erin, Kassi and Amanda warming up. Cassie Martin did several reps as well earlier on beam.

dismount.

Khorkina just then from Terin Humphrey! Nice hop full at the end of the

For LSU, freshman Susan Jackson is warming up beam and will not be on vault tonight. Sophomore Angela Morales is also warming up a Yurchenko 1/1.

Morgan, Kassi and Terin. Amanda Montgomery and Brittany Magee will possibly exhibit.

Bama moves to the bars while LSU is on the vault, where they are currently ranked #2 in the country.

warming up on vault. Bama looks loose, like they're having fun out there!

warm-up.

LSU has Ashleigh Clare-Kearney, Nikki Butler, Kelly Phelan, Lisa Rennie, Susan Jackson and Summer Hubbard warming up on the bars.

in gymnastics - the Alabama Crimson Tide takes on the LSU Bengal Tigers! It will be a fierce competition between two top 10 teams, #4 Bama versus #8 LSU.