PBAs stopped by the gym for our first official observation and report on fall practice for the 2003 season.   We were informed that one of the freshmen walk-ons, Katie Wiley, from Cullman, Alabama, has decided to forego her efforts to make the team this year. She remains in school at UA and we wish her the best. This leaves us with 14 ladies to report on, and they were all working very hard on this date. We will note just a few highlights to tempt Tide fans to join us on Sunday, October 27, 2002, at 1 pm for the annual Ghosts vs Goblins Intrasquad at the illustrious UA Practice Facility adjacent to Coleman Coliseum.

Rachel Delahoussaye: Her strengths were clear from the beginning: expressive dance skills, as well as body line and extension, both on the floor and balance beam.  Dana Dobransky has choreographed a fine routine for her to "Funeral For A Friend" by Elton John.  It's a great fit for the Level 10 freshman from Louisiana.  On beam she is very confident with her dance elements as well and throws a flic flac, flic flac, layout, a wolf full and a three leap combo of switch leap, wolf jump to 3/4 straddle.  She was working on a side somi as well.  She also showed some nice giants on the bars and a Comaneci dismount.

Lauren Pruitt: The Level 10 native from Cullman, Alabama, threw several nice front pike vaults, adding a 1/2 twist towards the end.  The more difficult vault actually showed better height and form throughout, so it will be interesting to see her throw this on the hard mats for the first time.  She seems to have adjusted well to the new vault hardware. On the bars she was mainly working on giants and her dismount. 

Larissa Stewart: The USA National Team Member from Oklahoma has a great look on bars: clean lines, excellent toe extension.  Nice giants and inverts.  The coaches were working on which combinations and elements to keep versus throw out from her elite routine.  On beam, Larissa has a neat series of two front aerials that she threw consistently on this date, as well as a flic flac, flic flac, layout for her flight series, a punch front, and a dismount of a 1 1/2.  She has trained a punch front mount and a double tuck dismount as well.

Dana Filetti: No longer impeded by wrist problems after resting it over the summer, the 2001 World Team Member looks ready to go on all events.  On vault she already has a Yurchenko 1/1 and a 1 1/2 but today was training a Khorkina into the pits.  Yikes!  On bars she was mainly working on her Geinger release move while on beam she focused mainly on dance elements and leaps (stag jump). But the floor is where Filetti will shine right from the beginning.  The music will be kept secret for now but it is awesome and she has worked hard with Dana Dobransky to choreograph one of the best routines we have seen at UA. What impressed us the most was how hard Filetti sold this even though she was only practicing.  This gymnast promises to be a crowd pleaser from the opening meet.

Mari-Christine Bayer: The USA National Team Member from California always seems to have a smile on her face, even when Dana Dobransky was teasing her about selling her dance moves on floor more or she would not be in the line-up at Super Six!  Coach Patterson confirmed this with a gleeful grin of her own.  This motivated Mari-Christine to throw herself into her new floor routine as well, showing some really nice ballet moves along the way.  On balance beam she has cleaned up most of the wobbling we saw last month and has some beautiful and unique moves that show off her flexibility, a'la Stephanie Woods!  On the bars she is training a 1 1/2 to a pike Jaeger release along with either a double layout dismount or double pike.  A Yurchenko 1/1 and 1 1/2 will be her vaults for this year.

Ashley Miles: Sporting a very stylish short hair-do, the 2001 World Team Member was all business on this date.  She has worked extra-hard on her floor routine with Dana and the results so far are pretty impressive.  Dana's choreography allows Ashley to flow more with the music, to interpret it versus fight it. When this is combined with Ashley's international tumbling skills, watch out. Pretty much the same can be said of her dance elements on the balance beam --- dance elements are more complete and less static.  She is still throwing the big skills (flic flac to full twisting tuck, round off --- layout onto the beam, punch front, switch leap to wolf jump, double tuck dismount).  The full turn with extended leg was practiced consistently today and will be included based on practice performance of this tricky element.

Dana Pierce: The 2002 J.O. National Champion stood out on vault and balance beam today.  She was training a Yurchenko 1/1 (great vault run and nice, tight form in the air) and on beam a two-footed back handspring to two-footed layout, a punch front, switch leap to two straddle jumps combo.  She has great form and presence on the beam.  Dana has trained a double somersault dismount but was throwing a back handspring to full twist off the side of the beam today. She mainly worked on her release move (Tkatchev) and her dismount (double front) on the bars.

Alexis Brion: Bama's first team All American (vault and floor) was cleared for practice today (had post-season surgery) on the vault, where she was observed throwing double pikes and front pikes with a 1/2 twist into the pits.  She also worked bars and beam (nice flight series of flic flac to layout and a switch leap combination). 

Michelle Reeser: She worked vault, bars and floor today and looks very determined, not to mention in great shape, for her sophomore year.  She is training a Yurchenko 1/1 on vault, a Tkatchev and Geinger on bars and her floor routine/music will remain the same in honor of the Georgia Bulldogs.  Just kidding!

Shannon Hrozek; Look out for the Texas Tornado!  She is back for her sophomore year in even better shape than at Nationals, where she garnered first team All America honors on the balance beam.  Shannon is already throwing a complete routine on the uneven bars and she looked fantastic today with the Geinger release (excellent height, tight body line and toe point) and all her giant uprises were on top of the bars.  Yahoo!  She is back training the Yurchenko 1/1 on vault and is tweaking some of the moves on her floor routine with Dana's help but will keep the same dynamic music.  The coaches predict that she will be in the all around at the beginning of the year.

Stephanie Kite: Though she was looking good on vault with her pike 1/2 twist (hard mat today as well as the pits) and beam (punch front mount, flic flac to two-footed back layout, 1 1/2 twisting dismount), Stephanie was at her best on floor with new dance and music by none other than Ms. Dobransky.  PBAs predict that this routine will elevate Stephanie's scoring potential in a big way.  Can't wait to see the complete routine over the next several weeks.

Lauren Holdefer: She has a brand new floor routine as well for this year and spent most of her practice time today with Dana completing the final dance moves.  Dana is trying to get Lauren to have more fun with the music and the moves this year and her efforts are paying off.  Lauren also worked on the bars and showed nice giant work as well as a Voronin release that we first saw her practice last year.  Alabama is working all of the gymnasts on bars this year, with the exception of Stephanie Kite, in order to maximize depth.

Jeana Rice: Today we saw Bama's junior All American confidently throw a full-twisting Tkatchev, her new release move on bars, and the choreography to her new floor routine, which is dy-no-mite!  Jeana is still struggling a bit with the new vault table but her years of elite training (not to mention our great coaches) will help her meet the challenge.  By the way, she is the defending Southeast Regional Vaulting Champ.

Kristin Sterner: Like Jeana, the Ionia, Michigan, senior is struggling a bit on the new vault table but she was throwing her pike 1/2 twists into the pit with more confidence by the end of practice on this event.  She was practicing her full bars routine and is trying to decide between the double front or a double layout as her dismount for the upcoming year. 

Let's have a great show of support this next Sunday for the Ghosts vs Goblins intrasquad meet.  This will be the first opportunity for the freshmen to experience a loud and appreciative crowd until the Tide's Exhibition Meet in early January.  Roll Tide Roll!  Beat those Vols!