Final Pre-Season Practice Report: January 4, 2004

PBAs and Salto were present for practice sessions on December 14, 2003 and January 3, 2004 and are ready to give a final report on how the team is looking less than one week before the opening meet (Super Six Challenge, January 9 in Tuscaloosa).  Everyone is healthy at this juncture, including freshman Meredith Laxton, who was practicing vault, uneven bars and balance beam on Saturday.  We'll now take this opportunity to highlight each gymnast in terms of their likely contributions on the four events and what skills to expect right out of the chute.

Seniors

Jeana Rice is the 2003 SEC Gymnast of the Year and the Tide's top all-around performer as well heading into the 2004 season.  Due to her amazing consistency, she will once again "bookend" the vault line-up with sophomore Ashley Miles (2003 NCAA Vault Champion) to ensure a top score at the beginning and end of this event. She will vault either a Yurchenko 1/1, 1 ½ or a ½ off front layout, all valued at a 10.00. Rice will also anchor the uneven bars in the sixth position, where she will throw two inverted giants, a Tkatchev and a dismount of either a full in or her exciting new dismount, a full twisting double layout.  As Bama's top returning All-American on the balance beam, Jeana will naturally anchor this event as well. Her routine includes two layouts and a double twist dismount.  Jeana has dynamic, new music for her 2004 floor routine, where she will throw a full-in pike as her opening tumbling pass, a front handspring-front full-front tuck and then a whip to double twist.  Jeana will certainly be one of the top favorites to win the all around at the Super Six Challenge.

Lauren Holdefer will figure in the vault and possibly the floor line-ups at the Super Six Challenge.  Look for her to vault the front pike ½ twist and she will throw two double backs on the floor.  Lauren's new tumbling pass for 2004, a running double front, is ready to exhibit but not yet consistent enough for competition.  Look for this exciting skill later in January.  Lauren also is showing solid skills and consistency on the balance beam; her routine here will add more depth to one of the Tide's best events for 2004.

Stephanie Kitewill definitely be one of the "go to" gymnasts on the floor exercise from the beginning of the 2004 season.  She will open once again with a front handspring to double full to immediate punch front and has a new second tumbling pass: round off to whip half to front layout to front tuck.  Stephanie is ready to go on vault with a front pike ½ twist and on beam as well when needed.  Her consistency and confidence on these two events have increased considerably during pre-season workouts. 

Juniors

Alexis Brion now has four competitive routines after rededicating herself during Fall workouts to enter the all-around in 2004.  A two-time first team All American on the vault, Alexis will once again perform the front pike ½ twist at the Super Six Challenge and will debut her new floor routine at this meet or sometime in January, where she is hoping to soon showcase a double layout as her opening pass.  Alexis is ready to go on the uneven bars and the beam and will likely exhibit these routines first before moving into competition at some juncture during the early to mid-point of the season.  Bama's depth on the uneven bars has increased significantly for 2004 with the addition of this and other routines that we will shortly highlight.

Shannon Hrozek's dynamic new floor routine has caught everyone's attention in the practice gym and the coaches will no doubt be tempted to debut it at the Super Six Challenge.  Shannon will open with a double pike and close with a double tuck.  She may well compete in the all around Friday night, as she is expected to throw the Yurchenko 1/1 vault and will be first up on the uneven bars and likely second or third up on the balance beam.  Shannon may throw her two release moves on the bars this week (Shaposhnikova and Gienger) but will essentially perform the same routine on the balance beam that earned her first team All America honors as a freshman (bhs-bhs-layout; switch leap to bhs; hitch kick to immediate sheep jump; switch leap to wolf; double twist dismount).

Michelle Reeser is once again healthy and ready to debut her new floor routine on January 9th.  She will provide experienced depth on the uneven bars for 2004 but is not likely to figure in the top six on this event due to the higher scoring potential of other routines.  However, Michelle will once again start off in the lead position on the balance beam due to her consistent performance throughout the 2003 season.  While Michelle is training a 10.00 vault she is not likely to factor on this event until mid-season at the earliest.

Sophomores

Mari-Christine Bayer is the only Tide freshman from 2003 to compete all four events and she is expected to start off the season on the uneven bars (first team All America) and the balance beam.  The coaches can also insert her into the floor and vault line-ups early on since she has competitive routines on these events ready to go.  Mari's artistic dance and overall presentation on floor especially stand out so it will be hard for the coaches to keep her out of the line-up next week.  She has added a switch leap to side straddle-leap combination on the beam and will be dismounting now with a switch leap to immediate gainer pike.  Mari expects to upgrade her dismount on the bars from a double tuck to a double layout by mid-season.

Rachael Delahoussaye was one of the pleasant surprises in 2003 and a critical part of Alabama's success on the balance beam at Regionals and the National Championship in Lincoln, Nebraska. She scored a 9.90 on the beam at Regionals and turned in two solid scores at NCAAs, one of which had to be counted the first night when Michelle Reeser ran into trouble early.  Rachael is in fabulous shape and ready to compete the beam and provide back up on the floor exercise as well for 2004.  While she continues to train vault and uneven bars, the Tide will not look to her for performances on these events until mid-season or later.

Dana Filetti has continued to showcase big skills on all four events throughout the Fall workouts and is ready to compete in the all around at the Super Six Challenge.  However, it is most likely that the coaches will tap her for the vault, uneven bars and the floor exercise to start the season and add the balance beam later after a few exhibition routines.  Dana has a triple twist on the floor to open and will tumble a double pike as her third pass.  On the uneven bars she will throw a Shaposhnikova and a Gienger as her major release moves.  Dana will dismount with a double front at the beginning of the year with hopes of adding a half twist out by mid-season. 

Ashley Miles returns as the defending NCAA vault champion and will once again anchor this event for the Tide in 2004 with a Yurchenko 1/1 or a 1½..  Ashley will retain the same floor music until mid-season, at which time she will debut a whole new routine which promises to be even more dynamic and crowd-pleasing.  Ashley will return to the uneven bars line-up at the Super Six Challenge and will throw a toe-on to pirouette to Tkatchev release combination. She will dismount this year with a booming double layout.  Ashley's beam routine has been adjusted in certain areas to allow for more consistent performances so we look forward to seeing this exhibited a few times early on before the coaches decide when to insert it into the regular line-up.

Dana Pierce has made the most of her pre-season training by perfecting her consistency on the balance beam, an event that was up and down for her in 2003.  Dana is in great shape for 2004 and will be in the beam line-up on January 9^th.  She possibly will be performing the all around by the end of January or early February.  Dana has been perfecting her floor routine and shows the same fantastic amplitude on her leaps and tumbling passes here as she does on the beam.  She will compete a Yurchenko 1/1 vault once again and her uneven bars routine is ready to go as well (two inverted giants to half turn to Tkatchev release; dismount of a back tuck off the high bar, which is being upgraded to a double layout).

Larissa Stewart is just about ready to get back into the line-up on the uneven bars now that her hand has completely healed.  She has been throwing all elements of her routine and just needs more practice reps to perfect it for competition.  Look for her to enter the line-up in mid to late January.  On the beam Larissa is further along and showing a lot of confidence since she had most of her Fall workouts on this event because of her hand injury.  Look for her to challenge for one of the top 6 positions early on.  Larissa has been perfecting her floor routine with Dana Dobransky-Duckworth's assistance and will hopefully be ready to exhibit it by late January or early February.

Freshmen

Brittany Comeaux will debut her skills for the Tide faithful on the uneven bars to start the 2004 season and perhaps will be tapped for the vault and floor exercise as well.  She has one of the strongest, most confident Tkatchev release moves we have seen in some time.  Brittany will dismount the bars with a difficult double front.  And while she has some unique and difficult skills on the balance beam, it is unlikely that we will see Brittany on this event at the beginning of the season due to the Tide's already established depth in this area. This will allow her to refine her technique and consistency on the beam in practice and through exhibition routines throughout the early part of the season.

Johnna Gay has been training all four events and has excellent potential to debut her routines early on the vault, beam and floor exercise.  She will vault a Yurchenko 1/1 and on the beam will showcase a switch leap to wolf full; bhs to layout; straddle-straddle-wolf combination and a double twist dismount.  The floor is where Johnna really shines, however, throwing difficult tumbling (double pike; front handspring-front full-front tuck; 2 ½ twist; double twist) and some very expressive dance.  Being cute with a gamine smile doesn't hurt either!

Meredith Laxton is training every event now except floor and she has received a lot of attention from Coach Patterson on the beam.  Meredith has very nice, long lines and is already tumbling a flight series of bhs-bhs-layout and a switch leap to ¾ straddle on the beam.  She was also working on a very difficult pike full jump on the 3^rd of January.  On the bars she is already throwing a Tkatchev release and a full turn to double tuck dismount.  On the vault she is training a Yurchenko 1/1.  Meredith will hopefully be ready to exhibit on beam and bars by February.

Erin Rightley is the Tide's most pleasant surprise entering the 2004 season.  She has made great strides on the beam and floor and conceivably could be tapped for the Super Six Challenge line-ups on these events if she performs well during warm-ups.  The big question is how she will handle the pressure of a real meet and only time can answer this for the coaches.  On the vault, Erin is still perfecting her twisting of the Yurchenko 1/1 but her form and height on this vault have impressed just about everyone during the pre-season.  She has equally nice form on the uneven bars but has a ways to go to develop a strong enough routine to vie for a competitive spot in the line-up.  On the floor exercise, look for Erin's awesome double pike.  Talk about air-time!

Possible Super Six Challenge Line-Up (an opinion only, based upon practice observations)