Bama's coaches have been navigating some rather rough waters over the past few weeks in terms of dealing with unexpected injuries to key performers on their #3 nationally-ranked Crimson Tide gymnastics team.  For example, sophomore Ashley O'Neal has required extra rest on the floor and balance beam in hopes of keeping her healthy for nationals, while freshman Kassi Price was held out of  the Central Regional Championship this past Saturday due to a tweaking of the knee during floor practice on Friday the 13th.  As a result, the coaches have had to dig into their storage bin for routines that could temporarily replace these gals and they received a pleasant surprise along the way.  Freshman Casey Overton handled lead-off duties on the balance beam like a pro (9.800) while sophomore Amanda Montgomery proved her mettle on uneven bars (9.700) and balance beam (9.775) Saturday night.  Meanwhile, sophomore Brittany Magee came through on floor (9.750) with her first competitive routine of the 2007 season.  Bama finished 1st (196.700) in convincing style despite the side-lining of two of their clutch performers, led by junior All American Terin Humphrey (All Around winner at 39.475), junior Kaitlin White  (hit 3 of 3 events) and freshmen Morgan Dennis (AA - 39.400) and Ricki Lebegern (AA - 39.375).  Onto the highlights....

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Amanda Montgomery

Casey Overton

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Uneven Bars	Score	Post Meet Commentary on Skills Executed and Deductions [ More Audio from this season... ] (Rotation one - Bama on bars (1.87 MB))
1 Kaitlin White	9.775	Super landing of the double tuck out of a full turn but she was whacked for just missing two of her handstands.  Nice Gienger release and Pak Salto.
2 Amanda Montgomery	9.700	Waiting in the wings, ready to be called on at any point this season, the steady sophomore from Jacksonville, Florida made the most of her collegiate competitive debut, hitting her Gienger release and standing up the double tuck dismount with a small hop in place.  Gutsy!
3 Ricki Lebegern	9.800	Just missed perfect vertical position on at least two handstands but she stuck the tuck full in dismount.
4 Morgan Dennis	9.800	Hit those handstands better and this would have scored much higher because her pike Jaeger was again effortless and she stuck the double front Arabian dismount as well.
5 Cassie Martin	9.875	Beautiful routine from start to finish (toe-on toe-off to Tkatchev to Pak Salto), highlighted by a graceful double tuck (both revolutions above the high bar) to a stuck landing.  This was the meet's winning routine on bars in our humble opinion.
6 Terin Humphrey	9.900	Wow, you never would have guessed that Terin was having shoulder problems just a week earlier because this was definitely one of her best routines of the year.  Handstands were on top of the bar and the hop on the double layout dismount was the only area that the judges could deduct.
Team Total	49.150
Balance Beam	Score	Post Meet Commentary on Skills Executed and Deductions [ More Audio from this season... ] (Rotation two - Bama on beam (1.46 MB))
1 Casey Overton	9.800	What a terrific lead-off routine!  She hit all the elements (front aerial, switch leap to straddle-straddle jump combination, bhs to layout step-out, running switch side straddle leap, full turn to sheep jump, bhs to gainer full twist dismount, stuck it!) and her routine was marred only by a small foot lift on the full turn.
2 Ricki Lebegern	9.850	We saw no problems with this routine - all elements executed without a balance check and she stuck the dismount (double twist) just like at SECs. Underscored!
3 Amanda Montgomery	9.775	This was also Amanda's first competitive routine on the balance beam and she executed her skills with great confidence.  Highlights included a front walk over to side aerial combination, switch leap-tuck full jump-sissone; split leap full jump, front aerial (foot lift to balance landing); wolf full jump, one-arm back handspring; running front full twist, stuck the landing!
4 Morgan Dennis	9.800	Very nice front aerial, bhs to layout step-out, switch leap to tuck full jump to sissone lost a little bonus when the first and second elements were not clearly connected; switch leap to sissone; round off to double tuck dismount, one step on the landing.
5 Brittany Magee	9.750	Slight check on the one-arm bhs to layout stepout (second element landing) but rest of the routine was terrific until she held the double tuck dismount just a tad too long, landing it with a large step forward, chest down as well.
6 Terin Humphrey	9.850	Adjusted her routine to avoid straining her shoulder by removing the Omeliantchik element near the end.  Very nice round off to bhs to double tuck, a little jam on the landing with a quick step to balance out.
Team Total	49.075
Bye	Bye	Bye [ More Audio from this season... ] (Rotation three - Bama on 2nd bye (1.62 MB))
Floor Exercise	Score	Post Meet Commentary on Skills Executed and Deductions [ More Audio from this season... ] (Rotation four - Bama on floor (1.50 MB))
1 Kaitlin White	9.850	Terrific opening double pike, followed by the round off to whip 1/2 to whip full twist; ended with her best front punch layout to immediate 1 1/2, finished right on time with the music.
2 Erin Rightley	9.850	Very solid routine, soaring double pike to open, front through to a 1 1/2 to layout step-out looked terrific and she finished with a front-front full twist to front tuck.
3 Brittany Magee	9.750	Her first competitive routine (one exhibition at Arkansas) for this season and there are signs that she is still struggling with the difficult front double full twist (just got it around but had to take a balance step to the side) and still needs to polish up the final pass (front punch layout to front full twist to punch front tuck - required two steps back on the landing though she landed it chest high).  She landed the second pass (double pike) very well.  Music from last year was restored to this routine and it was great to see Britt back on her signature event.
4 Ricki Lebegern	9.875	Opening triple looked great, second pass had just a little too much forward push but she still controlled the landing well within bounds (front-front full twist to front pike); ended with a perfect double pike that electrified the partisan crowd.  Very nice dance and expression as well.
5 Terin Humphrey	9.900	What a warrior!  Hit the opening E-level passes with panache (double front Arabian, 1 1/2 through to a 2 1/2 twist) and ended with a super confident double pike, double turn to Homma flip.  Cat leap needed a little more amplitude and tighter body position in the air for maximum scoring.
6 Morgan Dennis	9.850	Beautiful double layout to open, a nice tuck full in for her second pass that had chest down just a little but she almost ran out of steam on the final pass (tuck through to a round off to double tuck), landing it with chest down and forward.
Team Total	49.325
Vault	Score	Post Meet Commentary on Skills Executed and Deductions [ More Audio from this season... ] (Rotation five - Bama on vault (1.40 MB))
1 Brittany Magee	9.725	Y 1/1 landed with chest down and a step forward.  Britt was not warming up well on the vault during the earlier extended 15 minute period and it showed.
2 Casey Overton	9.725	Hristakieva looked pretty good in the air, but a hop forward on the landing and knees bent a bit too much probably cost her the higher score.
3 Kaitlin White	9.800	Other than a hop backward on the Y 1/1, this was a very good-looking vault.
4 Terin Humphrey	9.825	One step forward on the landing of the Omeliantchik- body position was good in the air but form needs to be tighter (legs together throughout descent).
5 Ricki Lebegern	9.850	Small hop on the landing, a little bent forward as well with her Y 1/1.
6 Morgan Dennis	9.950	Superb landing of the Y 1/1 when she needed it, marred only by split leg position, slight lift of one heel as she turned to quickly salute the judges.  Definitely had the best height, position in the air and distance from the vault table.
Team Total	49.150
Bye	Bye	Bye [ More Audio from this season... ] (Rotation six - Bama on 1st bye (1.92 MB))
Final: 196.700		[ More Audio from this season... ] (Post-meet coverage (1.78 MB))

Kaitlin White	Ricki Lebegern
Morgan Dennis	Terin Humphrey
Cassie Martin
Brittany Magee	Erin Rightley
Casey starts the Bama beam with a 9.80
Amanda scores a 9.775 on beam	Kaitlin starts the team off with a 9.775
Morgan hits 180 and a 39.40 AA score	Cassie nails her Tkachev enroute to a 9.875 score
Erin stars on floor as she scores a 9.85
Terin ties for the bars crown with a 9.90	Ricki leaps to a  39.375 AA score
AA Champ Terin scores a 39.475	Brittany takes flight on beam