Coach Sarah Patterson informed us that word came Friday evening of the death of Lewis Each, a great friend and source of inspiration for the past several years to the Tide gymnasts. It was understandably a somber group of ladies that took to the practice floor on this date and they are to be commended for focusing so well during practice in the wake of this sad news.

The gymnasts were working all four apparatus today and the vault performances were the early eye-catchers. Dara, April, Mandy and Natalie were working double pikes (9.90) while Alexa threw a pike cuervo (10.0). Andree appears to have several 10.0 vaults in her arsenal, including a round-off entry Yurchenko 1 1/2 twist in the laid out position! Katie Hornecker is adding difficulty to her vault by completing it in the laid out position also.

On the bars the gymnasts as a group are throwing more difficult dismounts. There are several Tide gymnasts who are now capable of dismounting with a double layout. Freshman Whitney Morgan was impressive, showing a great deal of power on the bars by throwing two high release moves, a Tkatchev and a Jaeger, ending with a double layout. Andree has a unique release move that we believe has only been done once in a collegiate competition; it is called a Hindorff and the crowd will surely gasp when they see it performed! It is also Dominique Dawes' trademark release move and, since she is Andree's favorite gymnast, it seems an appropriate way to honor her! Dara and Natalie showed very smooth form throughout their workouts on bars. Katie completed her release move combination successfully and is now throwing a full-in dismount! Lexa was throwing her usual sky-high Tkatchev and is working on a double layout dismount!

The beam lineup will also feature more diffcult mounts and dismounts, including three punch front mounts by Natalie, Andree and Raegan, while Krista and Gwen will be mounting with round off layouts onto the beam. Four of the gymnasts have punch fronts during their routines and several are dismounting with a double tuck. Mandy has added a side aerial and a front handspring to her already solid beam routine.

Floor exercise will see more difficulty and unique dance moves. Tide fans need to get ready to hear some new terms, including a double front Arabian by Raegan Tomasek and a double front tuck by Andree. Lexa is working a front/front 1 1/2 twist into a punch front! Whitney has a consistently solid double pike while Krista is showing good form with her full-in. Alexa threw a front/front double twist into a punch front and Katie is now doing a whip into a double back tuck. Robin is coming on strong with a double tuck, hopefully to add to her triple twist and 2 1/2. It was great to see Robin working all four apparatus with confidence, especially beam! Lissy is throwing a double pike and a double tuck into a punch front. Overall, a solid day in the gym.