Yea!...All right!...Yikes!...Whoopee!...Good Grief!...Way to go!...Yeeeow!...Oh yeah!...oh, oh!...Whoo-hoo!...What can I say? I went to a gym meet and 'A Tale of Two Cities' broke out (it was the best of times...). Oh, sure, there were some 'boo-boos' and some great performances at last week's Super Six Challenge. But Friday's tussle with the Plainswomen seemed to have an extra measure of both, with an added dash of sheer 'whimsey'.

The fan-friendly dual-meet format started off with gymnasts from each team taking turns, one at a time, with Bama on Vault and Auburn on Bars. Bama continued to put to rest my concerns about the new 'one Vault' rule. They started well and 'never looked back', as they say. The high scorers for Bama were Andree Pickens, Katie Hornecker, and Jeana Rice (more about her later), each scoring 9.85. Auburn, with eight (!) Freshmen, struggled a little on Bars, but ended up with a good score-including a couple of really nice routines. It was Auburn's first meet this year, so I guess their freshmen would have nothing to use for comparison. However, I always wonder what goes through a gymnast's mind the first time they perform in front of a big crowd, especially in the dual-meet format where you are the only one out there.

The teams traded apparatuses for the second rotation, and that's when the 'fun' began. Bama started off with great routines from Jeana (more about her later) and powerful Whitney Morgan. Then Dara Stewart, in the midst of one of her patented 'poetry in motion' circuits, got tapped by what I'm going to call the 'Whimsey Gremlin' to be the night's first victim. I don't know what happened, but I'm willing to bet that Dara couldn't do it again if she tried! She seemed to get a little off, made a super-human effort to save it, then just had to come off the bar-set. I hope she'll forgive me, but I just had to smile a little. Somehow she managed to get back up there and finish up her routine, looking graceful and disgusted at the same time. By finishing up well, Dara kept her score high enough to keep any undue pressure off the gymnasts yet to perform. And perform they did! Raegan Tomesek, Andree' and Natalie Barrington 'tore-up' the Bars. They twisted, they flew, they whirled, they did everything but stop in the middle and sell popcorn. So, OK, they didn't get 10.0's, but if the judge's could be as fair about bonus points as they are about tiny deductions, the gymnasts each would have had 12.825's! I have to admit, with all this going on, I ignored Auburn a bit on the Vault. Salsa's (A.K.A., Mrs. Salto's) score book showed that they had a 47.950, not bad at all considering the average start values of their vaults and their having to count a fall. In fact, Auburn's promising Kristi Jo Boyte had a 9.85, good enough to win the meet's individual honors on the Vault.

Dara started off the Beam rotation for Bama. Apparently, the 'Whimsey Gremlin' thought something looked familiar about her. Now, we, the fans, always expect the gymnasts, if they have a problem on Beam, to come flying off during their 'flight series'. Knowing this, Mr. Gremlin chose Dara's 'leap series' instead - just to keep us on our toes. A picture of consistency, the 'Whimsical One' later picked on Andree' during her gym-acro. Both gymnasts managed to 'save tenths' after their falls, always a bonus for the Beam rotation. Auburn's turn on the floor seemed to go very well. I thought their tumbling, as a whole, looked quite good. It's always tough to balance the music, tumbling, dance, and gymnastics elements on the Floor and make it all 'work', but Auburn's routines were very enjoyable. And, if you missed the meet, by all means try to make it to the meet at the Birmingham/Jefferson County Civic Center on February 9th. It will be worth the price of admission just to see Auburn's Missy Lauderdale perform (and I mean, PERFORM) her Floor Exercise. The high score for Bama(and the meet) on the beam was the 9.825 posted by Jeana Rice (more about her later). The Tide team Beam score ended up at 48.450, counting a fall. Auburn's Floor score was 48.825, their highest- scoring rotation for the night.

After another stirring interpretation of The Village People's 'YMCA' by the gymdads, the fourth and final rotation began with Bama on Floor and Auburn on Beam. The 'Gremlin' showed signs of staying over on the Beam with Auburn in the early going of the rotation. Meanwhile, Katie Hornecker scored a 9.85, providing a great start for Bama's Floor. Natalie followed with a very solid 9.775, during which she once again reminded me of former Tide great, Chasity Junkin (my friends will tell you that this is high praise, indeed, coming from me!). By this time, Mr. Gremlin noticed that Dara was not in the Floor line-up. In a fit of pique, he 'waved' his 'whimsey wand' toward the unsuspecting Stephanie Kite. I thought this was taking things much too far. Stephanie's tumbling passes feature intricate combinations of twists and turns that are far too technical and complex for an armchair gym-fan like me to describe. This proved irresistible for 'you-know-who'. One moment Stephanie was minding her own business in her first tumbling pass, the next moment she was rolling into the corner of the mat, the next moment she was right back up into her routine - which she finished with a really spectacular tumbling pass. Except for an odd hop here and an extra step there, this seemed to satisfy 'Mr. Whimsey'. Raegan's Floor X was just absolutely beautiful for a 9.90, Jeana (more about her later) chipped in an excellent 9.85 routine, and Andree' finished off the Floor and the meet with an awesome 9.95 effort. Andree's routine included a FRONT double somersault in the tuck position. My understanding, on good authority, is that this skill is completely impossible and defies all the known laws of physics. Bama ended up with an excellent 49.325 for the Floor exercise and a 196.250 total for the meet; a truly remarkable score for the second meet of the season. Auburn scored perhaps a bit disappointing 47.325 on the Beam, during which they sorely missed the outstanding Beam work of Sally Cantrell, whom we were saddened to learn tore her ACL in preseason practice. However, Auburn's meet total score of 192.350 should help them later on as an 'away' score in the arcane 'Regional Qualifying' scoring system.

And now, as promised, more about Jeana Rice. Jeana won the All-Around title for the meet with an outstanding 49.400 total for the four events', and her score easily could have been even higher. I'm sure the PBA's or some of my other truly 'gym-savvy' friends will set me straight on this, but I thought Jeana's 9.90 on the bars must have included a one tenth deduction for going first in the rotation (I sure didn't see any other reason for it!). She also placed in the top three at last week's Super Six Challenge. This marks an auspicious beginning to Jeana's career at the Capstone, to say the least. Sincere congratulations, Jeana, for a terrific start! In fact, let me extend those congratulations to the whole team, coaches, and staff. If my count is correct, thirteen Tide gymnasts performed routines in Friday's meet, and all eighteen(!) contributed to the victory with an obvious and genuine show of support for their teammates. If the NCAA wants to 'fiddle' with the rules, let's make each rotation the best 10 routines out of 12. That would eliminate virtually all of Bama's competition and, perhaps, make Coach Patterson's choice of a line-up a little easier!