The Alabama Gymnastics team was conditioning and practicing with an extra spark of holiday cheer on this date. Former Tide gymnasts, Mandy Chapman, Gwen Spidle, and Merritt Booth, were on hand to give the team support and encouragement. Alabama warmed up on vault, beam and uneven bars before conducting intrasquad meets on both of these events. Pooh Bear's assistants judged this to be one of the best practices of the year to date due to the intense focus on form and execution by all of the gymnasts. Vault was particularly impressive as each gymnast was running fast and hard throughout each attempt. Floor exercise routines were being refined for dance moves and tumbling passes were being executed to build endurance primarily on this date. Highlights include:

Vault

The top six gymnasts on vault remain the same as we predicted following the December 5^th practice but freshman Sara Scarborough appeared to give official notice on this date of her intention to be in the vaulting line up come January 8^th in Athens, GA, by throwing two of the strongest front pikes we have seen yet. She achieved excellent height and distance and was once again displaying great form and toe point throughout each vault. Her team mates showed their approval with strong applause. Other standouts included Alexa Martinez (front pike only on this date), Kristin Sterner (pike barani), Dara Stewart (front pike only on this date), Robin Hawkins (1/2 on ½ off: first one nailed!) and Katie Hornecker, who is throwing her second 10.0 vault now, a Tsukahara layout full. Alexa, Dara, Natalie, and Raegan were all working on pike baranis during the subsequent practice time on vault.

Uneven Bars

The first team on uneven bars appears to be set but the coaches experimented a little during the intrasquad with the order of gymnasts and gave scores for each routine:

Gymnast Score

1. Robin Hawkins 9.70 (good toe point throughout; a little tentative)
2. Dara Stewart 9.85 (great form; nailed her dismount!)
3. Kristin Sterner 9.75 (solid routine but needs to work on toe point/extension)
4. Katie Hornecker 9.10 (fell on pike jaeger but completed her new dismount)
5. Andree Pickens 9.80 (four release moves; landed her double layout )
6. Natalie Barrington 9.85 (no breaks; solid dismount of double pike)
7. Raegan Tomasek Exhibition position: a solid routine overall

Other highlights of this practice included Alexa on the uneven bars. What a difference one week can make! She was throwing the Tkatchev release move that was giving her so much trouble last week with confidence this week and has her double layout dismount down pat. Lissy was throwing her new trick of 2 ½ twists on floor with excellent height and rotation and seems ready to add the punch front at the end of this pass. Natalie was throwing three layouts in a row as one of her passes and Gina was showing excellent consistency on the balance beam with her flight series. Whitney and Katie were looking very solid on the balance beam. Whitney's dismount of double pike is awesome to see, as is Katie's double tuck dismount. Next practice notes: week of December 27 - 31, 1999. Merry Christmas!