tied for 2nd Place with Florida here at the SEC Gymnastics Championships, UGA winning #14 by .025 over the GymTide and Gators.

See you in two weeks Bama Nation as we head to the NCAA Regionals. The Tide must be one of the two highest scoring teams to advance to the NCAA National Championships at the end of April. Roll Tide and Congratulations to the Crimson Tide on a magnificent performance tonight.

for the NCAA regionals. They will definitely count this high score (away) for their final RQS and we will see them go ahead of LSU in the standings as a result but there are more post conference championships going on this weekend and we will not know the final regular season standings until Monday morning when Troester officially posts them.

strong on the vault in rotation seven with a team total of 49.450. Casey Overton tried to stick her vault too well and ended up bending forward at the waist on the landing and the judges decided to whack her with a 9.750 but Brittany Magee (9.825 for a Y 1/1), Kassi Price (9.800 - stuck Hristakieva with form problems and limited distance), Ricki Lebegern (9.95 for a stuck Y 1.5), Morgan Dennis (9.95 for her super high Y 1/1, barely missed perfect stick) and Kayla Hoffman (9.925, great Y 1/1, controlled hop back on landing) brought the scores up with great team effort.

and then returned to the floor exercise. Ashley O'Neal scored a 9.825 for a dynamic routine and Kaitlin White was heading to a higher score until she stepped back on one foot out of bounds on her double pike (2nd pass) but finished strong with a punch front to immediate Rudi for a 9.75 (this score was thrown out). Ricki Lebegern to the rescue, opening with a super triple twist and nailing her final two passes for a 9.875. Kayla Hoffman (9.900) and Morgan Dennis (9.950) threw their signature difficulty with confidence and the GymTide finished on floor with a 49.400.

and really showed their pluck and grit, pulling off the highest score on this event tonight with a 49.350. Casey Overton starting off for the Tide finally got the high score she deserved, it was a perfect, flowing routine with a stuck dismount for 9.90. Ashley O'Neal returned to the line-up for the second week and stood up her most difficult front double to the tune of a 9.800. Defending SEC Beam champion Ricki Lebegern marched right up to the beam next and tallied a 9.90 of her own and successfully claimed a piece of the SEC beam title for the second year in a row. Brittany Magee followed with a 9.850 routine at the point when UGA's fans were woofing their Dawgs to higher scores on the uneven bars and she completed her difficult skills with magnificent control and finesse. Kassi Price tallied a 9.800 routine, ending with a difficult double pike dismount and Morgan Dennis threw all her difficulty (two layouts) with a tiny step check on her landing of the double tuck dismount for a 9.90.

The Crimson Tide competes their hearts out and end up with a total of 197.325 after some scoring discrepancies into the main stats site were found and worked out, hence the delay in reporting the final score to the fans.

Alabama started on the uneven bars with a team total of 49.125 and counted a great routine from Kassi Price (9.900), Kayla Hoffman (9.850), and two 9.800 scores from senior Kaitlin White and sophomore Casey Overton, with Morgan Dennis tallying a 9.775. Sophomore Ricki Lebegern fell on her straddle Jaeger and her score was thrown out.

UGA wins by .025 with 197.350 and U of Alabama and Florida finish at 197.325

and Suzanne Yoculan of Georgia

Scholar Athlete of the Year - Rebekah Zaiser of UF

SEC Athlete of the Year - ACK of LSU and Lindsay Puckett of Auburn

1st ACK (LSU) 39.600
2nd Katie Heenan (UGA) and Morgan Dennis (UA) 39.575
4th Melanie Sinclair (UF) and Tiffany Tolnay (UGA) 39.525
6th Susan Jackson (LSU)

5th - Courtney McCool (UGA), Kayla Hoffman (UA)
4th - Katie Heenan (UGA)
1st - ACK (LSU), Amanda Castillo (UF) and Morgan Dennis (UA)

6th - Courtney McCool
1st - Casey Overton (UA), Grace Taylor (UGA), Ricki Lebegern (UA), Corey Hartung (UF), Morgan Dennis (UA)

4th - Nicole Willis (UF), Kassi Price (UA), Courtney McCool (UGA) - 9.90 scores each
1st - Grace Taylor (UGA), Melanie Sinclair (UF) and Tiffany Tolnay (UGA)

6th - Kayla Hoffman (UA) and ACK of LSU - 9.925
1st - Ashley Reed (UF), Morgan Dennis and Ricki Lebegern of UA, Katie Heenan of UGA, Susan Jackson (LSU)

Rotation Three: Alabama on Balance Beam - 49.350

Rotation Five: Alabama on Floor Exercise: 49.400

Rotation Seven: Alabama on Vault: 49.450 (we were told here on press row that Brittany Magee scored a 9.875 but later learned that it was actually a 9.825).

And it will be a fight here this afternoon.

National Anthem has been sung and the first four teams move to their first event while Florida, Kentucky and Alabama go out on a bye in rotation one.

will start in about ten minutes. Judges have just been introduced.

The Crimson Tide has a great rotation for this SEC Championship meet, starting with a bye and then moving to the uneven bars in rotation two and finishing on the vault in rotation seven. Last year unfortunately, the GymTide had a bye between each event and they were never able to establish momentum from one event to another, although they did finish in the Top Three and less than four tenths behind the winning team, Florida. So this afternoon it's very important that the GymTide take charge immediately on the bars to gain momentum from the beginning and set the tone for how they want to compete. Crisp, clean routines and stuck dismounts can give them the confidence to relax and rock the beam in rotation three before they depart on a bye in rotation four. This bye will in turn given the coaches a chance to provide feedback on whether the team is showing the enthusiasm and spirit needed to pump each other up for the final three rotations, starting with floor, another bye and then vault. Alabama simply needs to believe in themselves and go out and perform their skills with the mental fortitude they are capable of. It will take nothing less than this to pull off the Tide's 6th SEC title.

Casey, Ricki, Morgan, Kayla, Kaitlin, Brittany, and Kassi, with Megan too.

vault in rotation seven (final).

the Bama contingent that has grown in size right behind us.

Floor line-up is looking like this: Ashley, Ricki, Kassi, Kayla, Morgan, Kaitlin, Brittany.

return in rotation five to the floor exercise.

with the team to provide extra support the past few days. Foster has made herself the self-anointed "big sister" of this team since she saw first-hand their West Coast lackluster performance. Dee is currently residing and working in Los Angeles, so flying to the East Coast to be here for the team in this all important competition says a lot about her loyalty and competitive team spirit.

Casey Overton, Ashley O'Neal, Ricki Lebegern, Brittany Magee, Kassi Price, Morgan Dennis, Kayla Hoffman, and Amanda Montgomery.

the 2008 SEC Championship. Alabama is now warming up on uneven bars and will now move to the balance beam for rotation three. The Tide warmed up Morgan, Cassie, Kassi, Ricki, Casey, Kaitlin, Kayla on the bars. Kassi Price's father is leading the cheers right behind us as the gals parade off the podium in front of us towards the balance beam.