Junior Jeana Leads the League. . .

The 2002 seniors rode out in style on a 'high tide' of accomplishment; a fitting end for Bama's 'fantastic five'. A team championship and Andree Pickens' championship on the uneven bars combined to bring a long chapter in Crimson Tide gymnastics to a close. It had been an exciting ride, going all the way from missing out on the Super Six in 1997 to winning it all in 2002. And fans, coaches, and the Tide gymnasts returning for the 2003 season could look back with pride at all that had been accomplished during that time. The record-setting scores, the record-setting crowds, the seemingly endless chain of All-Americans, Academic All-Americans, and NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarships, the trend-setting and widely-recognized involvement in community outreach and charity programs - yes, the Bama GymNation had much to pause and reflect back over while resting on their well-deserved laurels.

Yeah, right. No sooner did the Tide get those laurel leaves in a nice pile and all fluffed up, when bunch of imps showed up to scatter them to the four winds. And a wide-eyed, sunshine-after-a-rain, girls-just-gotta-have-fun bunch of talented imps they have turned out to be, too. Of course I'm talking about the 2003 freshman class.

One of the fascinating features of college athletics is the 'ebb and flow' of it all. Just about the time your favorite team rounds into shape, they all graduate. The next thing you know, a bunch of freshmen are milling around, bumping into each other. You can't see any possible way they can pick up the slack. And they don't, really, it's all a lot more complicated than that - complicated and interesting.

For one thing, it's not just the lost routines that have to be replaced. There's a whole dynamic, sort a 'the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts' issue to consider. Who's going to lead? Who will follow? Does a lead-off or an anchor have to be replaced? In addition, the 2003 freshmen faced yet another hurdle, namely, the fact that there were so many of them.

Now, women's college gymnastics teams are allotted up to twelve full athletic scholarships, and no partial or 'divided' scholarships are allowed. Ideally, then, you would like to have three gymnasts on scholarship for every class, freshman through senior. In practice, it almost never works out that way. The GymTide's lost of five seniors in 2002, that - along with the addition of several freshmen in 2003 - combined immediately to convert Bama from an experienced team to an inexperienced team. Coach Sarah Patterson commented on the new feel of the team, "These [freshmen] have to step in and provide competitive routines for our team...Last season, we were a very experienced and mature team that knew what to expect. Now, we have a team that is very talented from their Elite gymnastics days, but they really don't have a clue right now as to what college competition is all about. I think our learning curve is going to be very important in determining our success...As a coach, I can see that as good as this group of freshmen is, they're going to be better a year from now. It becomes a point of how far we can move them along from here to January. Probably the biggest change will be from January to April, once they see exactly what competition is like."¹³

Needless to say, fall practice for the 2003 season began with an air of uncertainty. Luckily, even though they were truly a diverse group, the returning veterans turned out to be a stabilizing force all year. In fact, a recurring theme for the season became the freshmen wandering around with 'gah-a-aawl-lee' looks on their faces and the veterans just shaking their heads and giving them knowing smiles.

As usual, the annual 'Ghosts and Goblins' exhibition gave the fans the first good look at the team, including seeing how Jeana and the other veterans were adjusting to the new 'vault table'. The PBA's notes from the exhibition and from the other practices they visited showed a great deal of excitement over the way the team was coming together.

Due to the large freshman class and having to start the 2003 season on a long road trip, the coaches decided it would be a good year to have a 'meet-the-team' exhibition. "We are a very young team with seven freshmen and three sophomores, so we need to get out of our comfort zone in the practice gym and into a more competitive environment in front of a crowd and see how we react," Coach Sarah Patterson said. "As young as we are, this team will go through a maturing process and that starts this weekend." ¹⁴

Some of the 'old-timers', like Jeana and Kristin Sterner, got in a little less work than the freshman at the meet-the-team exhibition, however. "I know what they can do," Coach Patterson said. "I wanted to see what some of the other ones would do." ¹⁵ In fact, not for the last time, Coach Patterson was particularly impressed with Jeana's early level of readiness for the Gymnastics season. "Jeana has really looked good this fall," Coach Patterson said. "I think she was probably ready to go all-around as early as Thanksgiving." ¹⁶

Those words turned out to be prophetic, indeed, as the Tide journeyed over to Athens for the annual gym season 'kick-off event', the Super Six Challenge. The Tide started the meet on bars and had a reasonable time of it, including a sterling 9.95 from Jeana. The wheels came off a bit during the next rotation on balance beam, where the Tide stumbled to a 48.200 - although Jeana continued her great work with a 9.925. The upshot was that Bama headed to a bye in last place.

"I told them in the locker room during the bye that the only way they would disappointment me after our problems on uneven bars and balance beam was if they came out on the floor exercise and didn't give it their all," Coach Sarah Patterson said. "When they had such a good floor and vault set to finish the meet out, that showed me that this team has a little bit of spunk and backbone." ¹⁷

And, indeed, they did have a good floor and vault set as the Tide posted a 49.400 and a 49.300, respectively. Jeana and awesome freshman, Ashley Miles, led the way with a rash of 9.90+ scores between them. The Tide managed to pull up to a still disappointing fourth place, but did show a lot of courage closing out the meet with a flourish. It helped that Ashley tied for the top spot on both the vault and floor and Jeana won the bars ,the beam, and the all-around (with a fabulous 39.700).

Based on her performance at the Super Six Challenge, Jeana was selected as the SEC Gymnast of the Week. In an informative and insightful article by David Wasson of the Tuscaloosa News, Jeana referred to the long road she had traveled: "I had a lot of things going on, and life threw a lot of challenges my way all at one time...It just all caved in on me and clouded my vision of nationals and the future and where I wanted to be...This year, everything has been cleared up and I made it through the hard times to get to this point. And instead of everyone else trying to lead me in the right direction, I can be the person that has been there and is leading everyone else into that right direction."¹⁸

Coach Patterson spoke about her all-around star: "I just put my arm around her after that meet and said, 'I am very proud of you. You did it the hard way, and realize now that all eyes are upon you. You have come so far, don't ever slide back.' "¹⁹

After charging back from the slow start at the Super Six Challenge, the team was looking not to "slide back", as well. With more than just a little feeling of 'déjà vu' the GymTide retraced their steps to Athens, this time for a dual-meet with the 'Dogs. Both teams were 'on fire' for the meet, with the 'Dogs coming out on top by a scant .025 (197.075-197.050). In fact, the meet was close in several ways. Jeana and Georgia's Cory Fritzinger went head-to-head, so to speak, on balance beam with brilliant routines for identical 10.0's. Even so, Jeana's 10.0 wasn't quite enough to take the all-around, falling by that same tiny .025 to Georgia's Chelsea Byrd (39.650-39.625).

The following week the Tide had not one, but two meets, a Friday night affair with the first-year Arkansas Gym'Backs, followed by a Sunday afternoon tilt in Lincoln against the University of Nebraska. Jeana was held out of floor for a little rest on Friday night, but still managed to win the bars and beam with a 9.90 and a 9.95, respectively. In fact, the PBA's reported that Jeana's beam routine was "stupendous" and gave it an honorary 10.0. Shannon Hrozek took the all-around with a very fine 39.300, despite the considerable disadvantage of leading off on two of the four events (bars and floor). Arkansas was game, but over-matched, with the Tide taking the meet, 197.200 to 194.475.

The Sunday meet was another story completely, however, as a senior-laden 'Husker team opened up the meet with two 10.0 in their first rotation on vault. The Tide managed to keep them within striking distance (49.225 to 49.525), thanks in no small measure to a pair of 9.85's on bars by Dana Pierce and Ashley Miles. Bama chipped away at the 'Husker lead on vault, with Ashley scoring a 9.925 and Jeana a 9.95.

The real drama of the night, for our story, took place in the third rotation. Jeana led off and was having little trouble when, as the PBA's said at the time, she "twisted something on her leap" and wasn't able to complete her routine. As it turned out, that "something" was her ankle. However, although finished for the night, a quick check-up yielded the report that Jeana had suffered a mild sprain and that she would be back 'up to speed' in a couple of weeks. The floor team didn't give in, though, as they powered up for a very fine 49.325 - on the strength of four 9.85's, followed by a 9.925 by Ashley in the anchor spot. This effort nudged Bama a little closer to the 'Huskers. However, the 'Big Red Thrashin' Machine'²⁰ posted a very fine 49.525 in the last rotation to top the Tide 197.475-197.175.

So, the end of the long four-meet road trip found the Tide on the winning side of only one of their first four meets. In addition, Bama was facing the prospect of having to do without Jeana's contributions for, at least, the 'home-opener' against the University of Michigan, and perhaps more. The coaches indicated that they would be taking their usual, cautious approach, allowing Jeana to ease her way back into the line-up in due time.

You can imagine our surprise, then, when our normal, early arrival at the meet to watch warm-ups was greeted by the welcome sight of Jeana preparing for the meet right along with her teammates. We later learned that Jeana had taken, let's call it a 'dim view', of the idea that she should sit out the meet to rest her ankle and had pretty much insisted on taking part in the meet. For some reason, this incident has always reminded me of a gymnast I once saw who was wearing a t-shirt bearing the slogan: "If gymnastics were easier, they'd call it football".

Jeana's determination to participate in the Michigan meet turned out to be a stroke of luck for the Tide in a double sense. First off, Bama's fabulous freshman, Ashley Miles, 'tweaked' her knee during the week leading up to the meet and was out indefinitely. (The initial word was that Ashley had probably suffered a bone chip caused by a tendon pulling away from her right kneecap and that she would likely be out for the season. Later, it was decided that she had 'merely' shifted around some scar tissue from an old injury, but would still miss "several weeks". Incredibly, Ashley - technically - missed three meets - although she actually managed an exhibition on bars after missing only two meets! I refer you to the "If gymnastics were easier..." quote above.) It would have been a lot more difficult task to take on a tough Michigan squad without both Ashley and Jeana. Secondly, as it turned out, Bama also benefitted from the fact that Jeana was 'simply: en fuego', as they say on Sportscenter. She helped propel the Tide to a 197.200-196.525 victory over the Wolverines with her career-best (at the time) all-around score of 39.750, which included scores of 9.925 on every event except bars, where she scored a 9.975. This effort also earned Jeana the SEC Gymnast of the Week award, her second of the season.

Perhaps as a concession to her ankle, to the altitude of the site of the next meet (Denver), to the fact that the meet was a 'tournament', rather than a dual-meet - or even a combination of those and other factors - Jeana was held out of the floor exercise for the next meet, a Bama victory over up-and-coming Denver and the game, but over-matched Air Force Academy, 196.875-196.125-188.650. Jeana was also held out of the floor exercise against LSU the following week, back home in Tuscaloosa. The report before the meet was that Jeana had suffered a bout of the flu during the week and it was going to be a day-of-the-meet decision whether or not she would compete in the all-around. As it turned out, by the time of Bama's floor exercise in the last rotation, the Tide was well on it's way to a lopsided 197.400 to 193.800 victory over the Fightin' Tigers, so I expect the decision sort of 'made itself'.

Starting with the next meet, however, (an upset loss to Florida in Gainesville, 196.600-197.125), Jeana went on a six all-around victories in a row rampage, including a revenge win over the GymDog all-arounders (a feat which garnered her a third SEC Gymnast of the Week honor ²¹), two decisions over those of the Auburn Tigers, and a victory in the all-around at the SEC Championship. These late season heroics put Jeana at the top of the national rankings in the all-around for several weeks.

In reality, Jeana's closest competition over that entire period was actually her Tide teammate and one of Bama's true 'all-everything' student-athletes, senior Kristin Sterner. (It was Kristin who would eventually 'break the string', winning the all-around at the Central Regional in her last meet in Tuscaloosa with an outstanding 39.625.) An enormously talented and accomplished gymnast in her own right, Kristin was quick to draw a distinction concerning the skill and grace of her teammate, "She's No. 1 in the country, and you can see it the way she competes...We definitely have a lot of talent on this team, but she makes it look the easiest." ²²

Bama's win at the 2003 SEC Championship is justifiably remembered for then freshman Ashley Miles' dramatic floor routine. She took to the floor with the Tide needing near perfection to hold off the surging GymDogs, which Ashley promptly supplied with a 9.975. Naturally, with the Tide winning the meet by a scant .025 margin, there were several other vital contributions. Kristin, who had suffered a very uncharacteristic stumble on the uneven bars for a 9.60, came back to post a steady 9.875 on beam and a sterling 9.95 on floor. Setting the stage for Ashley's big moment was Stephanie Kite, with possibly her finest-ever floor routine - certainly one of her most timely and pressure-packed routines - for a big-time 9.925. Freshmen Larissa Stewart and Mari-Christine Bayer felt the pressure on bars after Kristin's low score and both responded with a 9.90 and a 9.875, respectively (Mari was also in the anchor position).

Jeana, too, had added pressure during her SEC All-Around Championship performance, anchoring on beam and needing to hit big - which she did for a 9.95. As well as winning the all-around, Jeana also took first on bars and beam. In addition, in recognition of her outstanding performance at SEC's and throughout the 2003 season, Jeana was named the co-Gymnast of the Year in the SEC, along with Georgia's Chelsa Byrd.

The GymTide seems always to be in the hunt for a National Championship. For that reason, it's easy make the mistake of overlooking the importance of the SEC Championship. And it is a mistake, indeed, to do so. In some ways, the SEC is even tougher to win than a National Championship. For one thing, you don't have the 'luxury' of a two-day competition, which lets the gymnasts get used to their surroundings and the equipment. In addition, teams that, unlike the GymTide, tend to rely heavily on just a few gymnasts, have a tougher time in a two-day meet. The SEC Championship is, naturally, vastly tougher than any Regional Championship; no Regional would ever include two teams as highly ranked as the Tide and the 'Dogs. In fact, the SEC is likely to have two 'number one seeds' and two or three 'number two' seeds. By design, the toughest Regional would have only one of each.

Even more significantly, despite the fact that Utah has more National Championships than anyone and even though UCLA may have the most talent year in and year out, the teams of the SEC are the real 'heart and soul' of NCAA women's gymnastics. No other conference, top to bottom, has more talent. No other conference's fans are more supportive, more passionate, more present. No other conference's teams will go so 'all out' against each other, even if it's just to win a dual-meet in January. So, when a team is lucky enough to win an SEC Championship, well, you can bet that the gymnasts on that team never take it for granted. In fact, at Alabama, SEC and National Championship teams have the added honor of having a giant team photo poster placed on the wall of their pratice facility. As Coach Sarah Patterson told Tommy Deas of the Tuscaloosa News, "It's a big deal to have your picture on the wall and have it never come down." ²³

The 2003 Central Regional, held in Coleman Coliseum, seemed a bit of an anti-climax after the 'down-to-the-wire' finish of the SEC's. In fact, the main drama came from an unlikely source, especially since it didn't involve Alabama. The Tide's main competition going into the meet looked to be number two-seed Oklahoma. The Sooners just never seemed to catch the spark, however, so the fight for the number two spot and a trip to Nationals, surprisingly, came down to a real stem-winder between Central Michigan and the Auburn GymTigers. Unbelievably, they ended up tied for second at 196.350 each and had to go to a 'tiebreaker' - which amounted to adding back in the 'throw-out' scores.

To add even more to the drama, if memory serves, the Auburn coaches had a debate - which we saw them having - on whether or not to have their sixth gymnast perform her floor routine. Floor was Auburn's last rotation and, as is not unusual, the coaches were fairly happy with the first five scores. The gymnast in the anchor spot, again from memory, had some nagging physical problems that the coaches weren't sure they wanted to provoke. However, knowing that the meet was close, just in case they could get a higher score, they decided to let number six compete. If they hadn't, they would have scored a zero for that position, come in third, and missed the chance to go to Nationals.

Bama won the Regional by more than a point, but the meet felt much closer than that. After coming out 'on fire', posting a huge 49.650 on floor, the Tide kept getting cooler and cooler. Bama had falls on both bars and beam, as the pressure mounted. The last routine in Bama's last rotation, Jeana on balance beam, needed to be, not a great one, but a good one - just to be safe. If nothing else has been established in these articles, I'm sure by now you won't be surprised to learn that Jeana scored a 9.90. It was a gritty 9.90, though, with a couple of those patented 'make a near bobble look like something you meant to do' moments. As mentioned above, Kristin Sterner won the all-around with her wonderful 49.650 Coleman Coliseum 'swan-song'. After a feat of athletic prowess to keep from falling earlier in the meet on uneven bars, Jeana scored a 9.70, which led to a third-place finish in the all-around behind Auburn's Courtney Puckett. Never-the-less, Jeana was the very deserving recipient of the Central Region Gymnast of the Year award.

The 2003 National Championship was held in Lincoln, Nebraska, on the campus of the University of Nebraska. For the first day preliminary rounds, the Tide was consigned to the relative calm and sparse crowd of the afternoon session. However, the large contingent of Bama fans managed to make the Tide feel at home, much to the chagrin of the UCLA Bruins (who are, perhaps, more accustomed to an atmosphere of soft background music punctuated by polite, tea-party style applause). Even so, the Bruins took first in the afternoon session, with the Tide second and the Michigan Wolverines in third. And, just as with her freshman year, Jeana achieved All-American status on all four events and the all-around, giving her a total of five for 2003 and 13 for her career.

Bama came in a surprising second to UCLA (197.275 to UCLA's 197.825) in the finals the following night. The scores for Jeana and the Tide both improved from the first day of competition, with Jeana going from 39.475 to 39.55 in the all-around and Bama going from 196.775 to the above mentioned 197.275. "Sometimes you win second place," Alabama coach Sarah Patterson said. "I thought tonight we won second place. [UCLA is] that good." ²⁴ Jeana also put up a very respectable showing in the individual event finals on the last day of competition, coming in eighth on vault (which Ashley Miles won, becoming Bama's first-ever NCAA vault champion), fourth on bars, and third on balance beam.

Winning the SEC all-around and five All-American awards in one year is no fluke. The amount of hard work and the level of dedication required are far beyond the comprehension of the average person. To do all that, as well as attending to your schoolwork and adapting to the vagaries and pressures of being a very big star under a very large microscope, is 'no mean feat', as they say. "I set my goals to SECs and nationals," Jeana said. "It's not necessarily that I'm better than anybody or just as good as anybody, but it puts me where I can compete with anybody from any school in the country...I hoped I could be able to step up and be someone everybody strives to be like, both in and out of the gym. I'm just proud that I can represent a great school like the University of Alabama." ²⁵

¹³ New season brings new concerns / Andrew Carroll / TuscaloosaNews.com / 10/13/2002

¹⁴ Alabama Gymnastics To Host Free "Meet the Team" Exhibition / GymTide.com.com / 01/03/2003

¹⁵ Fans give Tide a live tune-up for Super Six / Tommy Deas TuscaloosaNews.com / 01/09/2003

¹⁶ Alabama Gymnastics Opens Season Saturday at Super Six Challenge / GymTide.com.com / 01/07/2003

¹⁷ Gymnast Jeana Rice Wins All-Around At the Super Six Challenge / GymTide.com.com / 01/11/2003

¹⁸ Rice back on top of gymnastics after hard times / TuscaloosaNews.com / 01/11/2003

¹⁹ Gymnast Jeana Rice Wins All-Around At the Super Six Challenge / TuscaloosaNews.com / 01/11/2003

²⁰ One of many humorous nicknames employed on Leonard's Losers, a real 'must-hear' radio show by the redoubtable 'pigskin prognosticator', Leonard Postosties. And, yes, honesty requires me to admit that Leonard usually refers to the Tide's football team as the "Ponderous Pachyderms" - although I can't imagine he would use that term for the GymTide!

²¹ Rice is Gymnast of the Week / TuscaloosaNews.com / 03/19/2003

²² Rice isn't satisfied by ranking / Tommy Deas TuscaloosaNews.com / 03/28/2003

²³ Tide gains identity / Tommy Deas TuscaloosaNews.com / 03/31/2003

²⁴ Bruins are best - Alabama edges Georgia for second place / Tommy Deas TuscaloosaNews.com / 04/26/2003

²⁵ Rice isn't satisfied by ranking / Tommy Deas TuscaloosaNews.com / 03/28/2003