PBAs, one member of Tandem Team and the Salty Dog dropped in at practice on this date following a grueling day's work on the new website design with our favorite computer guru, Barry.  The new look of gymtide.com has about one more week of tinkering before its debut.  Updated roster information, photos of the team and more practice reports will be coming with the new "face" of The Medalist Club website.  Here's how the ladies were looking in the gym today...

Balance Beam

On this event we were most impressed today with Dana Pierce, Meredith Laxton, Erin Rightley, Dana Filetti and Ashley Miles.  Miles was standing up the round off to double tuck dismount with no major problems.  Filetti was throwing the double twist dismount, landing it confidently.  Laxton threw the 1 ½ with very nice form and rotation was complete on most reps we observed.  Bama is going for more difficult dismounts this year to increase their scoring and Miles will also be mounting with a difficult round off layout-step-out.  There will be many new faces on the beam this year as the Coaches look to significantly increase their depth and difficulty on this event for 2005.

Uneven Bars

Shannon Hrozek stood up the half out dismount on the harder mats consistently on this date.  Dana Filetti is now throwing a Shaposhnikova to Pak Salto release combination that will give her four tenths bonus. Yowee!  Add that to her full turn to Gienger release combination and a double front with a half twist dismount, and you have an All America candidate on the bars.  Her attitude and commitment in the gym continue to impress the coaches and her teammates.  Ashley Miles was working her double layout to get more amplitude, looking strong as usual.  Dana Pierce impressed us on this event as well, showing super form with her reverse giants and Tkatchev release.  She was working on the double layout dismount as well.  Alexis Brion in just two weeks is looking ready to compete her bar routine.  She continues to have some of the best up-rise giants to handstand position that we've seen this fall and she is now working the double front dismount, which she performed during her elite years. Erin Rightley and Rachael Delahoussaye were also working the bars with nice form and extension.  Mari-Christine Bayer was solid with her new double layout dismount, landing today on the hard mats consistently.  Kaitlin White's form and execution on the bars have improved significantly in just two weeks and she almost has her full routine in place.  Salto noted she works the bars like Andree Pickens (i.e. she shows the bars no mercy).  Now that's the ultimate compliment! 

Floor Exercise

We saw some of Rachael Delahoussaye's new routine, as well as Shannon Hrozek's and Meredith Laxton's.  The music is HOT HOT HOT but we'll keep it a secret for now.  Suffice it to say that Dana Dobransky-Duckworth has gone all out this year for the Bama Nation, making good on her promise to bring even more dynamic music, dance and tumbling to Coleman Coliseum in hopes of grabbing another national title on this event in 2005.  Dana Filetti continued to showcase her new routine on this date, fine-tuning her choreography in time with the music and throwing the double front Arabian on the hard mats with Shannon Hrozek. The Mouse, Michelle Reeser,  and Alexis Brion will apparently keep their music from last year.  Both were looking strong on this date as well with their respective tumbling passes.

Vault

Kaitlin White was throwing the Yurchenko 1/1 on the soft mats today and in the pits at other times.  Meredith Laxton's Hristakieva was looking much better (no rubber band form on this date).  Dana Pierce looked powerful on her runs but was up and down on her blocking.  Erin Rightley, Shannon  Hrozek and Ashley  Miles continue to impress with super vault blocking and landing of their vaults (Yurchenko 1/1).  Mari-Christine Bayer was working the "pinball" vault as well as the Yurchenko ½ off front pike.  Her form looks terrific on the latter vault but she is still throwing these into the foam pits at this juncture.  Brion's vaulting (front pike with a half twist) was looking much better than two weeks ago, now landing it on the hard mat.