With less than 6 days before the annual Ghosts versus Goblins intra-squad, the Crimson Tide was hard at work perfecting some of the skills they plan to showcase this coming Friday afternoon. Ashley Miles, Brittany Comeaux and Dana Pierce were missing due to previously scheduled personal events on this date but it was pleasing to note that all of the remaining members were hard at work on their individual routines.  In fact, there were several skills being thrown that literally shocked PBAs because of the particular individual who was executing them.  Are you ready to learn more?

Erin Rightley: Okay, right out of the chute, we're going to anoint this walk-on sophomore from Fort Walton, Florida, as the winner of the Andree Pickens "I Like To Practice Award" for what she has accomplished in only four weeks of the fall preseason.  Erin first of all has a look now about her in the gym that is 180 degrees different from last year in terms of how she practices.  She just looks visibly more confident, determined and focused in her work-outs this year.  And this has apparently translated to immediate dividends on vault and floor exercise.  Today she was throwing Yurchenko 1/1 vaults, already standing them up on the soft and harder mats, with the explosion and height off the table that you don't expect to see this early in the season.  She then moved to the floor tumbling tracks and proceeded to throw double layouts on the medium mats with minimal spotting from Bryan Raschilla.  When questioned how she was so quickly mastering this difficult tumbling element, Coach David Patterson replied that Erin was already throwing a full in earlier this fall but was spending too much time thinking about the skill, so they decided to simplify it (!) by having her throw the double layout.  Problem solved!  Erin also was throwing double pikes today that were just as high and beautiful as those she showcased last year in the gym.  Now the trick will be helping her contain this energy within the boundaries of the floor exercise mat.  Even though it is early in the preseason, our gut feeling tells us that Erin Rightley will be on vault and floor this year for the Tide if she continues to progress at such an impressive rate.  We were unable to see her on the beam or bars during this practice so hopefully we will have more to report from the Ghosts versus Goblins intra-squad.

Kaitlin White: The Texas freshman was struggling during her vault timers into the pits at first but started to settle in nicely with more reps. Her knee scoping over the summer has slowed her down on this event but is not expected to delay her significantly on vault and floor.  Next up was the balance beam, where Kaitlin earned "workhorse" honors on this date for her persistent efforts to refine difficult elements, like the switch leap to straddle Popa, which we never saw her miss.  She was also practicing a bhs-layout for her flight series and a running side switch leap.  We will continue to track her progress closely over the next month to see where she will fit into the line-up by Super Six Challenge. 

Mindy Weber: Next to Erin Rightley, Dana Filetti, and Shannon Hrozek, our freshman from North Carolina is in the best shape of the Bama gymnasts.  Mindy had some excellent news last week from the doctor about how well her leg is progressing since a titanium rod was implanted.  She has been given the okay to proceed to light tumbling on the floor (round off back flops for the moment, no landing on her feet after the first push off).  She was already increasing her elements on the balance beam and uneven bars prior to the good news.  Coach Patterson was working with her on some strength moves down on the beam on this date and she was also doing full turns on the uneven bars and dismounting the full-in into the foam pit.  One thing that stands out about Mindy is her awesome toe point and extension on the uneven bars.  She will no doubt challenge our memories of Stephanie Woods, Dara Stewart and Natalie Barrington before long as having the best lines on the uneven bars. 

Shannon Hrozek: She is not resting on her laurels as she prepares for her senior year of competition.  Shannon is the Tide's model for peak conditioning and upgrading of skills, which is just what you want in a senior leader.  On the balance beam we saw her execute the new bhs-layout-layout flight series repeatedly without flinching.  She has been practicing a new dismount as well, the double tuck.  On the uneven bars, Shannon was throwing the Shaposhnikova release with good results and seems to enjoy practicing this new skill.  The dismount is also being upgraded to a full out.  Shannon was throwing the Yurchenko 1/1 vault on the soft mats with minimal problems.  This is one skill that Shannon was determined to master last year and did so in magnificent fashion.  If Shannon is able to master her new skills, she will challenge for all around honors this year at SECs and NCAAs.

Dana Filetti: Is it possible that the Chesapeake, Virginia junior can get any more toned than she already was at the end of last season? Well, Filetti just has that metabolism that won't quit.  You could span her waist with your hands, she is that tiny.  But what power she has despite her lean appearance.  On the uneven bars she was working diligently with Coach Raschilla on her release moves (Gienger and toe-on release to the high bar) and reportedly is still planning to upgrade to a new dismount, a double front with a ½ twist.  PBAs also got to see Dana's new floor routine choreography, with some awesome new music that she really seems to enjoy.  She looks to be a solid performer for at least three events this year.

Meredith Laxton: The sophomore walk-on from Papillon, Nebraska is now fully recovered from her ACL injury suffered in the winter of 2003.  She too is in wonderful shape and was demonstrating some of her signature moves on the balance beam (split scale behind the ear, press forward-pose) and was also throwing a Hristakieva vault pretty confidently into the foam pit.  Meredith may surprise a lot of fans this year by making the beam and vault line-ups in at least a back-up role.  It's amazing what a healthy athlete can do. 

Alexis Brion: Entering her senior year, Alexis still has hopes of competing in the all around before she retires her leo.  She was showcasing nice skills on the uneven bars and is ahead of where she was last year during preseason on this event (we saw a very confident full pirouette to Tkatchev release).  She was a regular in the balance beam line-up this past year so if she can consistently demonstrate a competitive bar routine in practice by December, don't be surprised if she achieves that goal of competing in the all around in 2005.

Rachael Delahoussaye: We mainly saw Rachael work on the uneven bars (full turns and double tuck dismount) and the floor exercise today, where she has upgraded her tumbling to a front through to a Rudi.  She is in excellent shape once again for her junior season and is expected to secure her position in the beam line-up for 2005.  Look for new music and choreography on the floor as well.

Jessie Silver: The freshman walk-on from Dallas, Texas, is showing some impressive skills after being away from gymnastics for over a year.  First, she is in excellent condition and was keeping up with the reps on beam and floor that the coaches were demanding of the veterans.  Jessie primarily focused on refining her flight series on the balance beam (bhs-layout) and throwing double pikes into the foam pit.  She has legitimate power and skills that could contribute significantly to Alabama's overall depth.  We will report more on her skills after Ghosts versus Goblins.

Mari-Christine Bayer: Our junior All American was demonstrating very nice uneven bars work, including the pike Jaeger release, full turns on top of the bar and smooth giant uprises.  Balance beam work showcased some new dance moves but it looks like Mari will keep her dismount of the switch leap to gainer back pike for now.  A nice surprise was seeing Mari throw a new vault into the foam pit with excellent form: Yurchenko ½ off-front pike. Yikes!

Michelle Reeser: Mouse was her usual steady self, practicing on the balance beam (bhs-layout-Korbut) and tumbling on the floor (three front layouts; front-whip ½-layout-step-out).  She and Jessie mirror each other in size and general appearance from a distance so we had to double check our eyes on several occasions.  We will have more to report on Michelle's routines later this week as well.

Ghosts versus Goblins start this Friday at 1:30 pm.  Music by Mannheim Steamroller.  Be there or be spooked!