Alabama senior Ashley Miles, the 2006 NCAA Vault Champion, is one of four finalists for this year's Honda Award for Gymnastics.

Miles is up against UCLA's Kate Richardson, Utah's Ashley Postell and Georgia's Courtney Kupets for the award which denotes the nation's top gymnast.

"Wow, that's really cool," Miles said. "I'm honored to be considered for such a prestigious award and to represent the University of Alabama in this way."

Alabama gymnasts have been finalists for the Honda Award 13 times and have won five - Penney Hauschild (1985 and 1986), Dee Foster (1993), Andree Pickens (2002) and Jeana Rice (2004).

During her Tide career, Miles won 20 individual postseason championships, including four NCAA Championships, six Southeastern Conference titles and a record 10 NCAA Regional Championships. This past weekend she led Alabama to a third place national finish and won the Tide's 19th individual NCAA Championship.

She is only the second gymnast in NCAA history to win three national vault championships in a career and the first in 20 years. She is one of only six athletes in NCAA history to win the same event three times and the first in over a decade to manage the feat. Her four individual national titles ties her for third all-time.

As a senior, she won the NCAA West Regional and NCAA Championship vault titles as well as winning the SEC and NCAA West Regional Floor Exercise title. A 12 time first-team All-American, Miles is the first gymnast in Southeastern Conference history to win the same event, floor exercise, all four years.

The Honda Award for Gymnastics winner will be decided by nationwide voting among NCAA member schools and will receive the Honda Award for gymnastics and become a nominee for The Honda-Broderick Cup awarded annually to the nation's outstanding collegiate woman athlete of the year. In addition to the honor of being a finalist, American Honda will donate $1,000 to the women's athletic fund of each nominee's university. The winner's program will receive $5,000.

UA