After what seems like an eternity on the road, the nation's top team, your Alabama Crimson Tide, returns home this Friday to face their arch-rival and number two in the country, the Georgia GymDogs. Also on hand will be a large contingent of former Bama greats returning to Tuscaloosa for Alumnae Night.

The sojourn to the hinterlands of East Alabama and Northeast Kentucky was not without a fair amount of drama - not to mention some notable routines by some 'old hands' and some new faces. I will briefly attempt to hit some of the high points, but bear in mind that I'm leaving a lot out that probably doesn't deserve to be.

More than 5000 were on hand at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum in Auburn on February 6th to cheer on the Tide and Tigers, with about 2000 of that number wearing Crimson and White. We were not disappointed as both teams seemed determined to put their best foot forward.

As the road team, Bama opened up on the uneven bars. Jeana Rice and Ashley Miles (who has really come into her own on the bars) each scored 9.90, which was ultimately good enough for them to win the bars competition for the evening. Scoring seemed tight for both teams on the bars that night, but several other routines were enjoyable and very well done, including those of Shannon Hrozek and Mari-Christine Bayer for Alabama and Kayce Stein, Natica Johnson, and Courtney Puckett for Auburn.

The GymTide moved next to the vault, where Auburn had just shown that the landings were 'the thing'. Any steps, hops, or scoots were getting a minimum of .10 deducted, no exceptions. So, the two gymnasts with 10.0 start values who stuck their landings, Alexis Brion of Alabama and Kristi Boyte of Auburn, shared the vault title for the meet with identical 9.925's. Shannon continued her steady improvement on her 'big-air' Yurchenko 1/1 vault, scoring a 9.90. As a part of my on-going campaign to save the 'front pike with ½ twist' vault (which I now refer to as a 'Brion' - as far as I'm concerned, they ought to rename it in honor of the person who does it the best!), I need to mention Lauren Holdefer's fine effort for a 9.775 - which might have been scored even higher on a different night.

Bama's floor exercise team was 'en fuego' at Auburn, as they used to say on ESPN's SportsCenter. Ashley won the floor with another fabulous routine for a 9.95. Jeana shared second place with Auburn's Rachel Tarantino, both scoring 9.925. Other notable routines included Lauren's lead-off 9.85 and Mari-Christine Bayer's 9.875, both of which, again, may have suffered somewhat from the 'fair and balanced', but rather 'tight' scoring. And I shouldn't leave the floor without mentioning freshman Erin Rightley's 9.75 - I believe her first floor routine for a counting score. She had a small problem on her final tumbling pass when she appeared to 'pop-out' of her one of her intended skills. Never-the-less, Erin did a fine job with her routine.

For most teams, if there could be said to be any advantage, ending a meet on the beam at least gives them a chance to work off some nervous energy during the previous rotations. That concept didn't really apply too well to the GymTide at Auburn, however, since three of the six 'beamers' had yet to compete going into the last rotation. In addition, the Bama coaches decided to 'build a little depth' at the lead-off position by having Rachel Delahoussaye take the first spot. This was a good trial under fire for Rachel since the GymTigers were applying a fair amount of pressure to the Tide with their fine score of 147.075 through three rotations to Bama's 148.025.

In the long run, everything worked out rather well. The Tide's beam team wobbled a little, yet still filed a very creditable 49.050. Auburn kept up relentless pressure, scoring their highest event total of the night with a 49.275 on floor. The meet boiled down to Jeana Rice hitting her routine under extreme duress - sort of a B'rer Rabbit, "Don't fling me in that briar patch" situation if there ever was one. Jeana's 9.90 sealed the deal: Bama 197.075 - Auburn 196.325. (One of the last things to happen at the meet, by the way - and one of the most exciting - was Alexis Brion's exhibition beam routine. But for a bit of an 'out of control' step-back on her landing, she likely would have scored a 9.90 - just a beautiful routine.) Then it was on to Lexington for a tilt with the Wildcats.

The coaches continued on their depth building and line-up changing regimen at Kentucky. The first sign of that was Shannon Hrozek leading off on bars. Naturally, that was not new ground for Shannon. However, Ashley Miles, who was not going on bars that night, had led off on bars for the last few meets. (Note: On the 'Hey Coach' show on the Monday after the Kentucky meet, Coach Sarah Patterson mentioned an additional factor in Ashley not doing the bars at Kentucky. The bar set at Kentucky was not of the 'free-standing' variety like Alabama uses in their meets - the type that has become by far the usual kind. Instead, Kentucky is the only team Bama will face this year which uses the 'bolted to the floor' variety. Apparently, these just have a different 'feel'. Rather than having Ashley go through the process of getting used to the different kind - Bama has both kinds in their practice gym - the coaches elected to give her a needed rest on bars, with the added bonus of avoiding the learning and 'unlearning' curve on either side of the Kentucky meet. I've told you these folks are clever!)

The bars team ended up with a steady 49.200, which included three 9.80's (Shannon, Larissa Stewart, and Brittany Comeaux), a 9.825 (Dana Filetti), a 9.85 (Mari-Christine Bayer) and a 9.925 (Jeana Rice). Especially notable was Larissa's on-going progress on her 'come-back' and the fact that Alexis Brion did a nice exhibition for a 9.65. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Alexis and Dana Pierce might very soon get a shot at an all-around (although maybe not at the Bama/Georgia meet!).

Shannon also led-off the vault rotation for the Tide, scoring another huge 9.90 on her now very confident Yurchenko 1/1. Jeana Rice, who was third in the line-up on this night, scored a 9.925. That score was later matched by Alexis with her 'Brion' vault (see above). Then, the highlight of the evening, Ashley Miles scored a 10.0 for her vault. The vault team scored an outstanding 49.550, easily the highest event total of the evening for either team.

Just like the bars team, the floor team ended up with a yeoman-like 49.200. This score included two 9.80's (Dana Pierce and Shannon Hrozek), three 9.825's (Lauren Holdefer, Mari-Christine Bayer, and Stephanie Kite), and an exceptional 9.925 (Alexis Brion). Both Ashley and Jeana took a break from floor at the Kentucky meet. However, note that Shannon did perform a floor routine, I believe the first of the season for her. Naturally, she's in that 'all-around mix' with Alexis and Dana Pierce.

The beam team, similar to the Auburn meet, had a few bobbles but still hung on for a nice score of 49.125. Beam lead-off extraordinaire, Michelle Reeser, was back in her usual place and scored a big-time 9.85. Rachel followed up with a 9.825. Alexis was next, but had a fall (hey, it can happen to anyone!). This put a little pressure on Shannon, who came through swimmingly for a 9.80, followed by Mari who scored a 9.85. At this point, with - not so much the meet - but a high score of 197+ in jeopardy, the coaches could have been forgiven if they had decided to change their minds about resting Jeana on balance beam. Instead, they chose to show a lot of confidence in Dana Pierce by staying with her as the anchor in the beam line-up. And Dana came through in a big way with a very nice 9.80 routine, which gave the Tide a 197.075 - their fifth 197+ score in a row.

Here we are then, just a little more than halfway through the season, and I think it is safe to say that the Tide has had the best 'first half' ever, in many ways. Their scoring consistency is easily the best of any team, and at the highest level. Georgia, who comes in Friday for what will now, sadly, only be an annual event, has the season's highest score, a 198.050, scored against LSU last weekend in Athens. So, they are at the top of their game, too. As usual, this meet should be a classic Bama/Georgia tussle with the GymTide's 'tidal wave' of powerful and polished gymnastics going up against the GymDogs 'thunder and lightening' approach with its big-skill/big-risk strategy. No matter the outcome, both teams should carry away plenty to build upon. I'll tell you one thing for sure, 'wild horses' couldn't keep me away! Roll Tide!!!