(Check out Gina's personal page in athletes/roster)

If you had told her three years ago that she would soon be competing for one of the top collegiate gymnastics programs in America, Tide junior, Gina Logan would have told you to "get real" quick! Back when Gina was finishing up her junior year at St. John's High School in Gulfport, Mississippi, she had pretty much decided to forego pursuing a college gymnastics scholarship in favor of other extracurricular activities. However, once she started attending the University of Alabama, Gina was "rediscovered", so to speak, by David Patterson during the summer following her freshman year while she was helping to coach the Bama Bounders. And the rest, as they say, is her- story!

Tide fans seem to have a special affection for Gina, not only because she is a walk-on but because they have closely tracked her amazing improvement over the past two years, which started with a tearful and frustrating beam exhibition at Gainesville, Florida in 1997 and climaxed with an almost flawless 9.90 beam routine at the 1998 Central Regional Championships in Tuscaloosa, which netted her a tie for first place with fellow gymnasts Danielle McAdams and Gwen Spidle.

Gina has also provided additional depth on the bars for the Tide during the past two years. For 1999, Tide fans will be happy to know that her championship beam routine will remain the same: gainer back handspring, back handspring, layout (flight series - 3 moves); her gymacro will be a wolf jump to a back handspring; she will have a 3 leap combination: switch leap, wolf jump, ¾ wolf jump; she will also retain a gainer full (layout) dismount. On bars Gina will once again compete a piked Jaeger release move and will dismount with a rudi (1 ½ twisting flyaway).

Gina noted that the upper classmen have been prepping the incoming freshmen as far as what to expect during competitions. Additionally, intrasquad meets have been helpful and the team is now striving for consistency in their executed routines. For herself personally, Gina observed that collegiate gymnastics has had a significant impact on her life, including helping her to grow as a person throughout all aspects of her collegiate experience, helping to define how she works and thinks, knowing clearly what she is "good" at and bringing out the best in her as a person. Gina's favorite competition over the past two years was the 1998 National Championships at UCLA because of the strong Tide fan support that came along for the ride, which made it seem more like a home meet! Her message to Tide fans regarding this year's team? Get ready for a lot of enthusiasm with this young team, which she says will be evident in how they perform and how they get along as a unit. And thanks to Gina for defining teamwork and modeling unselfish commitment throughout her past two years as a Tide gymnast!