A week after winning the Super 6 Challenge in Baton Rouge to open the season, Alabama Gymnastics is back on the road facing Penn State and Arizona Saturday, Jan. 14 in Happy Valley, Pa.

Coach Sarah Patterson is looking for some marked improvement from her young squad after last week's 5-0 start.

"Last week we found our starting point at the Super 6 Challenge," Patterson said. "And now we are moving forward from there. I'll be excited to see how far we've come in a week. We were at a point in the season where we weren't going to get any better until we got into competition. Now we're moving forward."

At the Challenge, 13 of the Tide's 24 routines came from the freshmen class, which numbers eight strong, the largest rookie class in Alabama history.

"Our freshmen now know what a collegiate meet is all about, though this week will be a little different because there are only three teams instead of six, and while we'll all be competing at the same time as we did last week, it won't be a four-ring circus and there won't be byes this week."

Fans will be able to follow the meet on-line and on the radio. Chad Anderson and Leesa Davis will be broadcasting all the action from Happy Valley starting 30 minutes before the meet on 90.7 FM in Tuscaloosa and at www.broadcastmonsters.com online. The Tide will also feature live online commentary and scoring at www.rolltide.com.

This will be the second year in a row that all three teams have met during the regular season. The Crimson Tide, Nittany Lions and Wildcats were all at the Super 6 Challenge in Gainesville, Fla. to open the 2005 season.

The three programs have historically been among the nation's best, with all three making the NCAA Championship field at the same time almost a dozen times, including 1988 and 1991 when Alabama won its first two of four NCAA titles to date and 1992 when the three teams finished in the top-5 with Alabama taking third, Penn State fourth and Arizona fifth.

Penn State has been a constant on the Tide's regular season schedule since 1983. The two teams have only missed one season during that span, 1992, but even that year they met at the NCAA Championships. In 24 regular season meetings since 1983, Alabama is 23-1, with the lone loss coming in 1999 at Penn State. Against the Wildcats, Alabama is 6-2 during the regular season, with the last regular-season meeting before last season coming in 1992.

Last season Alabama and Penn State saw each other twice in the regular season, and at the NCAA Championships where the Tide finished second and the Lions 10th.

Next Friday, Jan. 20 marks the Tide's home opener and its "Drive 4 the Cure" meet. Both Alabama and Florida will put aside their school colors and wear pink leotards to try and raise awareness and money for the fight against breast cancer. For more on the Tide's "Power of Pink" initiative, go to www.rolltide.com/pink/ on the web. Tickets are available at the Alabama Ticket Office located in Coleman Coliseum (205.348.2262) and online at www.rolltide.com.

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