BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Alabama gymnast, Jeana Rice, the 2004 NCAA All-Around Champion, has been named the 2003-04 Roy F. Kramer Female Athlete of the Year by a vote of the Southeastern Conference's athletics directors. Arkansas trackster Alistair Cragg earned the men's award.

"I am extremely excited for Jeana," Alabama head gymnastics coach Sarah Patterson said. "This is an incredible honor, especially considering the level of competition in the Southeastern Conference. To be judged the best athlete in the nation's top conference says volumes about the kind of season and career Jeana has had. She has been consistently spectacular throughout her career, and this is a testament to all she has achieved."

This season, Jeana Rice earned a postseason 'triple crown', winning the all-around at the SEC Championships, the NCAA West Region Championships and the NCAA Championships. She also earned the Honda Award for Gymnastics denoting the nation's best gymnast. She is the fifth Alabama gymnast to win the Honda since 1985.

"This is a tremendous honor for Jeana and The University of Alabama," Athletics Director Mal Moore said. "She has enjoyed an outstanding career and has certainly brought a great deal of honor to the Crimson Tide. The level of accomplishment achieved by athletes of the Southeastern Conference is unparalleled and to be named this league's top athlete is an incredible feat. I can't think of a better way for Jeana to have closed out her career than with a national championship, the Honda Award for Gymnastics and now this high honor. We are extremely proud of her."

Rice is the fifth Alabama athlete and fourth UA gymnast to be named SEC Female Athlete of the Year. She joins gymnasts Penney Hauschild (1985), Dee Foster (1990), Andree Pickens (2002) and track star Lillie Leatherwood (1987). Alabama's five honorees is the SEC record for this award.

"The fact that the Crimson Tide has produced more SEC Female Athletes of the Year than any other school is amazing, especially when you consider the long and impressive list of Olympians, world record holders and national champions who have come through the Southeastern Conference over the past 20 years," Patterson said. "I am especially proud that four of the five Alabama women named SEC Athlete of the Year have been members of the gymnastics program."

Rice earned five All-American honors on the season and set an SEC Championship record in the all-around with a career best 39.850. She was second on the balance beam at the NCAA Championships and won the SEC vault and uneven bars titles as well as the NCAA West Region uneven bars championship.

For her career, Rice earned an NCAA record 18 All-American honors in addition to leading Alabama to the 2002 NCAA Championship and the 2003 SEC Championship. She finished in the top-6 of the NCAA All-Around competition each of her four years and finished in top-3 of the balance beam competition as a sophomore, junior and senior. She was the SEC Gymnast of the Year and the NCAA Central Region Gymnast of the Year as a junior.

She collected six individual SEC titles, including back-to-back all-around titles as a junior and senior. In NCAA Regional competition, Rice won seven individual titles including three all-around championships.

A seven-time NCAA champion, 14-time All-American, nine-time SEC champion and 18-time All-SEC selection, distance runner Cragg closed his collegiate career as only the third two-time SEC Male Athlete of the Year.

"Alistair and Jeana are wonderful representatives for their universities and this conference," SEC Commissioner Mike Slive said. "They have competed at the highest level and through their hard work, dedication and commitment have shown the true meaning of being a student-athlete. The SEC is extremely proud to honor these two student-athletes for their accomplishments. We congratulate them on their efforts and wish them the best in their future endeavors."

• 2003 - Alistair Cragg, Arkansas (cross country/track) and LaToya Thomas, Mississippi State (basketball);
• 2002 - Walter Lewis, LSU (track & field) and Andree Pickens, Alabama (gymnastics);
• 2001 - Matias Boeker, Georgia (tennis) and Amy Yoder Begley, Arkansas (cross country/track);
• 2000 - Kip Bouknight , South Carolina (baseball) and Kristy Kowal, Georgia (swimming);
• 1999 - Tim Couch, Kentucky (football) and Chamique Holdsclaw, Tennessee (basketball);
• 1998 - Peyton Manning, Tennessee (football) and Chamique Holdsclaw, Tennessee (basketball);
• 1997 - Danny Wuerffel, Florida (football) and Trinity Johnson, South Carolina (softball);
• 1996 - Danny Wuerffel, Florida (football) and Saudia Roundtree, Georgia (basketball);
• 1995 - Todd Helton, Tennessee (baseball) and Jenny Hansen, Kentucky (gymnastics);
• 1994 - Corliss Williamson, Arkansas (basketball) and Nicole Haislett, Florida (swimming);
• 1993 - Jamal Mashburn, Kentucky (basketball) and Nicole Haislett, Florida (swimming);
• 1992 - Shaquille O'Neal, LSU (basketball) and Vicki Goetze, Georgia (golf);
• 1991 - Shaquille O'Neal, LSU (basketball) and Daedra Charles, Tennessee (basketball);
• 1990 - Alec Kessler, Georgia (basketball) and Dee Foster, Alabama (gymnastics);
• 1989 - Derrick Thomas, Alabama (football) and Bridgette Gordon, Tennessee (basketball);
• 1988 - Will Perdue, Vanderbilt (basketball) and Dara Torres, Florida (swimming);
• 1987 - Cornelius Bennett, Alabama (football) and Lillie Leatherwood, Alabama (track and field);
• 1986 - Bo Jackson, Auburn (football) and Jennifer Gillom, Ole Miss (basketball);
• 1985 - Will Clark, Mississippi State (baseball) and Penney Hauschild, Alabama (gymnastics);
• 1984 - Terry Hoage, Georgia (football) and Tracy Caulkins, Florida (swimming);
• 1983 - Herschel Walker, Georgia (football/track and field);
• 1982 - Buck Belue, Georgia (football/baseball);
• 1981 - Rowdy Gaines, Auburn (swimming);
• 1980 - Kyle Macy, Kentucky (basketball);
• 1979 - Reggie King, Alabama (basketball);
• 1978 - Jack Givens, Kentucky (basketball);
• 1977 - Larry Seivers, Tennessee (football);
• 1976 - Harvey Glance, Auburn (track and field)