Growing Up With the Tide

Like Jeana Rice, senior Lauren Holdeferwill be called upon to provide vital leadership throughout the 2003-04 season.  Holdefer grew up following the Crimson Tide as a member of the Bama Bounders gymnastics club and was destined to become part of this team along with her twin sister, Erin.  The twins contributed scores to Alabama's National Championship run in 2002 (Erin on vault, Lauren on vault and floor exercise).  Prior to the 2003 season, Erin had to take a medical discharge to avoid risking a more serious injury to her shoulder.  She has since married, continues working towards her degree at UA and traveled with her parents and other Tide fans around the country throughout the 2003 season to support the team.  Lauren competed a new 10.0 vault successfully towards the latter part of the 2003 season, which helped the Tide earn the 2003 SEC Championship title and a 2^nd place finish at the NCAAs.  On the floor exercise Lauren was the only gymnast at SECs and NCAAs that performed four tumbling passes, three of which were double backs (two in the tuck position, one in the pike position).  Lauren saw her scores on vault increase by an average of .15 when she began throwing the ¼ on ¾ off vault, with her highest score being 9.850 (achieved 3 times during the season).  On floor, she started off with a 9.90 at the Super Six Challenge in Athens, Georgia, and was averaging 9.875 towards the latter part of the season. 

 The coaches report that, for 2004, Lauren will be throwing a running double front as her opening pass on floor and will alternate her second and third tumbling passes with a double tuck and a double pike. She has already been standing this pass up in practice consistently and will now have both front and back tumbling in her routine. On vault, Lauren will return to the pike ½ twist since her 2003 vault has recently been downgraded to a 9.90 value for 2004.  On the balance beam Lauren exhibited several times in 2003, throwing a front pike mount, a punch front, ff to layout and a Rudi dismount.  She will provide extra depth for the Tide on this event as well. Most importantly, Lauren once again was named as a Scholastic All-American and Academic All SEC for 2002-2003. The Tide will once again be very strong with Lauren helping to lead the way. 

Alabama - Kite's First and Only Choice

 Senior Stephanie Kite hails from Austin, Texas, home to one of the Tide's favorite Elite gymnastics clubs, Capital Gymnastics.  Former Bama greats Sheryl Dundas, Kara Stilp, Stephanie Woods, and Merritt Booth trained at Capital and each earned an SEC and National Championship ring while at the University.  So perhaps it was natural for Stephanie Kite to look east when considering her collegiate options.  A consistent 4.0 student and the daughter of professional golfer, Tom Kite, Stephanie had unlimited choices for her collegiate education.  However, her desire to compete for the University of Alabama and to major in business/marketing has resulted in a perfect match.  Stephanie earned an academic scholarship from Alabama during her freshman and sophomore years but her hard work in the practice gym and on the competition floor soon caught the eye of Coach Patterson, who rewarded her with an athletic scholarship her junior and senior years.  Stephanie responded in kind by first upgrading her opening floor pass to an E difficulty level (front handspring to front double full to immediate punch front). She then performed her new routine for 16 straight weeks without a break, averaging an impressive 9.86 (six scores of 9.90 or higher, including a 9.925 at SECs).  She was named 2^nd Team All-America at NCAAs on the floor as well as Scholastic All America and Academic All SEC for the third straight year.  On the vault, Stephanie averaged 9.76, going 9 of 10 routines with her pike front and then a pike ½ twist by mid-season.  She also provided depth on the beam during the early part of the 2003 season until Jeana Rice and Mari-Christine Bayer could return to the line-up from injuries. 

For 2004 the coaches report that Stephanie will retain her opening floor pass but is also upgrading her second pass with a round off to whip ½ to front full.  She will also retain her pike ½ twist vault and on the beam will showcase her skills from the past two years: punch front mount, bhs to two-footed layout for her flight series, switch leap to wolf Popa, Rudi dismount.  Stephanie continues to maintain a 4.0 GPA overall and will once again be called upon to help lead the team academically and athletically in her senior year.