Alabama entered the 2007 gymnastics season Friday night against the Oklahoma Sooners not knowing how the freshmen would respond to the frenzy and expectation that is Crimson Tide Gymnastics. Would they let the butterflies and nerves get to them from the opening introduction in front of 12,000 fans or would they embrace the crowd's boisterous welcome and use this to fuel them through the next 90 minutes? The results indicate that this freshman group is not afraid of any crowd or any challenge, as they helped pace the team to victory with a final score of 195.70 to the Sooners' 194.500, despite a couple of early setbacks on the uneven bars. Let's review some of the highlights:

Vault

Alabama opened the meet on the vault with sophomore Brittany Magee throwing a Yurchenko 1/1 that had excellent form and height but she was deducted mainly for piking it down as she went for the stick. She received a 9.725. Sophomore Ashley O'Neal threw one of her best vaults right out of the chute, a pike 1/2 twist, that was much improved in height, form and landing this year (9.775). Freshman Morgan Dennis gained major airtime and distance with her Yurchenko 1/1 and was deducted mainly for a hop back on the landing and being off center a bit as well (9.825). Junior Terin Humphrey was up next and arguably threw the best vault of the night, an Omeliantchik (Yurchenko 1/2 twist on - front pike off), with excellent form and height gained, small step in place on landing; yet she received only a 9.825. Freshman Ricki Lebegern countered with an effortless Yurchenko 1/1 that was almost stuck perfectly (a little pike down on this one as well) for a 9.85 and fellow freshman Kassi Price anchored the event with a massive Yurchenko 1 1/2 twist, one step forward on the landing, form a little loose in the air as well for a 9.85. Tide total on vault was a 49.125. Junior Kaitlin White exhibited a strong Yurchenko 1/1, landed chest high but a hop back cost at least one tenth. Oklahoma scored a team total of 48.875 on the uneven bars. Tide led the first rotation by .250.

Uneven Bars

This is where Alabama encountered problems in the first two routines up that almost led to a disastrous night. Sophomore Cassie Martin, a mainstay in the Tide's bars line-up last year, was called upon in this opening meet to go up first. She had two major problems in her routine, starting with the very difficult opening sequence of toe-on toe-off to Tkatchev to pak Salto (bailed on the third element first time and had to kip back with an extra swing to obtain enough power to swing through it, costing her a major deduction). After transitioning to the low bar and completing a few other elements, it looked like Cassie was going to finish strong but during her giant straddle uprise to handstand on the high bar, which comes near the end of her routine, she again lost momentum and ended up having to jump off. She finished with a giant to double tuck dismount, one hop on the landing for a final score of 8.850. This score would be counted, as Ricki Lebegern was up next and subsequently got a little too anxious in her kip cast to handstand on the opening move and ended up getting lost literally in her pirouetting sequence and had to come off the bars in order to regroup; once back on the bars she completed a giant to 1/2 turn to front giant to straddle Jaeger release and hit the rest of her routine but was sluggish on the landing of her full in dismount (some leg separation, shoulder down, step to the side) for an 8.825 final score. Fortunately, junior Kaitlin White was up next and determined to stop the bleeding. White hit all of the major elements of her routine (full turn to Gienger release, pak Salto, full turn to double tuck dismount) and was likely deducted for just missing vertical on a handstand, a little leg split during the Gienger release follow through and for a hop on the landing of her dismount (9.775). Freshman Jacqueline Shealy responded with a strong routine as well (straddle uprise to handstand to inverted giant to 1/2 turn to Tkatchev, toe-on straddle release to the high bar, 1 1/2 twisting flyaway dismount), showing gorgeous toe point and amplitude/extension on her Tkatchev. Unfortunately, she landed awkwardly on the dismount, saluted the judges and then fell to the mat in pain, grabbing her knee. A suspected knee ligament tear was to be confirmed with an MRI on Saturday. Best of luck to Jac in her recovery. This routine scored a 9.775 and was one the coaches were counting on for the season, so she will be sorely missed. Kassi Price was up next and performed like a veteran, hitting the toe-on toe-off to half turn to Hindorff release, toe-on straddle transition move to the high bar, double layout dismount (stuck it!) for a 9.875. Terin Humphrey anchored with a superb hop full to Gienger combination and a stuck double layout dismount of her own (9.925). Team total was 48.20, with an entire point being lost to one counted routine of less than 9 tenths, so that shows you how important it is to know where you are in a routine and prepare to minimize deductions as much as possible. Cassie will most likely be moved further in the line-up since this is where she performed most reliably in 2006 and we may see Kaitlin moved to the opening position. Morgan Dennis exhibited her bars routine, highlighted by a gorgeous pike Jaeger; good rhythm and pace throughout the routine, ending with a stuck double front dismount, both revolutions above the high bar (9.80). With Jac's unfortunate injury, it's a sure bet that Morgan will be in the line-up on bars next week against Florida. Bama will also need Magee and freshman Casey Overton to pick up the pace in the gym to get their routines ready as soon as possible in order to add team depth on this event. Oklahoma scored a 49.05 on the vault and had a running score of 97.925 to Bama's 97.325, leading by .600 at the midway point.

Balance Beam

Heading into the third rotation behind by six tenths, Bama knew they had to be aggressive and focused with their beam routines. Brittany Magee was looking very strong through her flight series (one-arm bhs to layout step-out), front aerial, punch front and full turn (leg extended horizontal throughout); but she hesitated on landing the switch split leap before going into a split jump to pike jump combination, and this is where the judges hammered her. A small step on the landing of her 1 1/2 twisting dismount cost her as well, for a very conservative 9.50. Bama still went six for six without a fall and did not have to count this lower scored routine in the final tally. Confident routines were subsequently thrown by Ashley O'Neal (9.775 for a bhs to layout step-out, punch front, switch leap to straddle-straddle combination, double front dismount, one step forward on the landing), Kassi Price (9.75 for a wolf aerial, bhs to layout step-out, side Somi, double pike dismount), Erin Rightley (9.80 for a front aerial, bhs to layout step-out, switch leap-switch leap to straddle jump, switch leap to pike jump, bhs to full twist dismount, stuck it!), Ricki Lebegern (9.775 for a bhs to layout step-out, front aerial to switch side straddle leap, side Somi, switch leap to straddle-straddle combination, double twist dismount, stuck it!), and Terin Humphrey (9.825, highlighted by a gorgeous full twisting bhs to bhs to layout step-out, punch front, switch leap to wolf jump, 3/4 twisting bhs to split handstand, 1 1/2 twisting dismount, small hop forward). Team total was 48.925 and a running score of 146.250 to Oklahoma's floor exercise score of 48.550 and a running score of 146.475. The Tide still had to make up .225 and hope that the Sooners would falter on the beam.

Floor Exercise

The Crimson Tide moved to the final event with renewed determination and confidence, knowing they could surge past the Sooners if they could hit five of six routines, which is exactly what they did. Ashley O'Neal set the bar high with a superb opening routine that had sassy dance and tumbling (opening pass of a double tuck, front-front full to front layout, ending with a stuck double pike) for a 9.875. Ricki Lebegern matched her score while throwing a more difficult opening pass (super triple twist), followed by a double pike and ending with a front-front full to front pike (landed on her toes and just avoided the white chalk line in the corner). Erin Rightley also came through with another 9.875 score, opening with a soaring double pike, followed by a Rudi to layout step-out, and ending with a strong front-front full to front layout. Terin Humphrey was enroute to breaking into the 9.9 or higher scoring range with two strong E opening passes of a double front Arabian (one step back to balance the landing) and a perfectly executed and stuck second pass of a 2 1/2 twist to punch front. However, she lost some repulsion power on her final back handspring as she moved into the ending double pike and had to touch down her hands to balance the landing, nevertheless garnering a respectable 9.40 (5 tenths automatic deduction for the touch down on floor). Two freshmen to the rescue! Kassi Price first showed her mettle with two E opening passes (pike full in, jammed the landing a bit, some leg separation as well; and the triple twist, executed beautifully); she finished with a front tuck through to a round off-back handspring to double pike, again some flexed feet and leg separation mid-air, also chest down a bit on landing. The judges rewarded the back-to-back E passes and Kassi's beautiful double cat leap into a cat leap 1/2 series with a 9.90. But Kassi will need to clean up the form on the opening and closing passes to garner the higher scores in the future. Morgan Dennis anchored the floor event with a polished opening pass of double layout (super amplitude and form, well within bounds), followed by a front-front full to front layout and ended with another terrific pass of a double tuck, again amazing amplitude on this element as well. Morgan's routine was particularly impressive because of the extensive dance sequences throughout that did not allow her much time to breathe between tumbling passes. Her superb conditioning was evident throughout this routine and particularly when the final pass was thrown. Meanwhile, over on the beam, Oklahoma experienced problems with the first three gymnasts up, resulting in two routines being counted with falls in the team's tally of 48.025. The Sooners finished with a 194.500 to Alabama's 195.700. Victory was secured thanks to a vocal crowd and good leadership from the Bama veterans and coaches that helped the freshmen perform to the max in their opening meet.

The Tide hits the road for a January 19th contest against the talented Florida Gators in Gainesville. See you back here on gymtide.com Bama Nation!