Morgan Finishes The Bama FL With A 9.925

The GymTide and the reigning SEC Champion Florida Gators entered last Saturday's meet with one loss each for the season, both coming at the hands of the same adversary: the reigning National Champion Georgia GymDogs. Indeed, after a narrow victory before a raucous crowd in Gainesville earlier in the year and a somewhat wider one before a more respectful crowd in Tuscaloosa a little later on, Georgia's head coach Suzanne Yoculan is reported to have remarked that the heated rivalry with Alabama seemingly had been surpassed by that with the surging Gators. Mix in with that the fact that the Tide had not yet breached the 197.000 scoring mark on the season, and that the Gators were averaging scoring more than a full point higher at home than on the road, and it's safe to say that both teams had something to prove.

As has become customary this season in Coleman Coliseum, the enthusiasm of the large crowd was put to the test in the first rotation by some less-than-cheer-worthy scores. Luckily, unlike the above mentioned Georgia meet, the tight scoring was being suffered by the Gators over on the uneven bars. Meanwhile, Bama was charging up the home crowd with a season-high team score on the vault.

To finish well, you have to start well...this might almost be considered a personal motto for Casey Overton. Bama's outstanding beam lead-off brought her 'first-up' skills to the vault with a beautiful Yurchenko 1/1 for a 9.875. Kaitlin White followed on with the same style vault for a strong 9.775, then Ricki Lebegern added a half twist and received a 9.875 for her Yurchenko 1 1/2. Next up came Kayla Hoffman, who threw in competition what we have been seeing for months in the practice gym, her absolutely textbook Yurchenko 1/1 - for a 9.95. Kassi Price followed Kayla and received a 9.85 for her stuck-cold Hristakieva - which, while being a bit easier to spell than it is to perform, is much harder to pronounce. Morgan Dennis' booming 9.90 Yurchenko 1/1 brought the team total to 49.450.

Amanda Leaps To A 9.725 BM

In the second rotation, the uneven bars scoring remained consistent...that is to say, as consistently low for the Tide as it had been for the Gators. There were some highlights, none-the-less. Kaitlin kicked things off with what everyone agrees was one of the best bar routines of her career for a 9.825 (to put this and the following bar scores into perspective, just add a tenth to each and you will come up with just about the score these routines would have garnered on a 'normal' night - both for Bama and Florida, I might add). Ricki matched Kaitlin's score - and managed not to get too close a 'look' at the high bar this time. Morgan, Kayla, and 'Trooper Terin' Humphrey encountered some small difficulties for a 9.70, a 9.75, and a 9.725, respectively. Kassi then added one of her standard bar routines - 'standardly' brilliant, that is - for a 9.85 (remember, add that tenth). Not the Tide's best team bars score, a 48.975, but, considering the circumstances, not too bad.

Casey kicked things off in the third rotation with a great 9.80 table-setter on beam. After a steady 9.775 effort from one of Bama's "go-to" gymnasts, Amanda Montgomery, the Tide went on a real scoring tear. Ricki - who is reminding one salty old observer of Kristin Sterner more and more with every passing meet - lightly hopped, skipped, and jumped to a 9.85. Brittany Magee, whom Coach Patterson has justifiably called 'a natural' on beam, then added a 9.85, as well. Kassi tired of that score, so she posted a 9.90. (More about Kassi in a moment.) Morgan was the beam anchor on this evening and she did not disappoint, putting up a 9.875 for her extremely well-executed routine - for a team score of 49.275, another season-high mark.

Thus, for the second meet in a row, the Tide entered the fourth rotation down a couple tenths or so. At LSU the week before, Bama, finishing on the beam, had first to catch, then pass the Tigers on floor exercise - no mean feat. In some ways, however, the Tide had even a taller order to fill in the meet with Florida, in that the Gators were - and are - the nation's number one balance beam team, and that by a fair margin.

Ricki got the party started with a nearly flawless routine for a 9.875. Stylish and talented Casey Overton, who is still getting used to a brand new floor routine, was in line for a big score when she encountered a few problems on her last tumbling pass, nearly stepping out of bounds for a 9.675. Never fear, Kaitlin 'had her back', and, just like bars, put up one of her best ever routines for a 9.875. Since it was a night for bests, Kayla decided to do her part by throwing down a completely awesome routine for a 9.95. For the first time this season, the Coleman Coliseum crowd 'woke up the echoes', shaking the air with thunderous applause and cheers. For the first time that evening, the Alabama side could sense a victory within reach.

Kassi Dances To A 9.9 FL

The question then became, would the coaches stick with the plan and have Kassi include the tough E-level triple-full in her routine for the first time this season, or would they elect to have her play it safe? Well, "no guts, no glory", as the saying goes, Kassi not only threw, but aced, the triple-full, prancing and powering to a 9.90. This left the victory on NCAA floor champion Morgan Dennis' capable shoulders. Once again, she did not disappoint, soaring, flipping, and dancing to a crowd-pleasing 9.925. This gave the Tide a season-best 49.525 on floor, a season-best 197.225 to 197.125 upset victory over the Gators.

As mentioned above, both teams had something to prove - and both did so. Florida finally posted a 197-plus score on the road, putting to rest any remaining doubts about head coach Rhonda Faehn's powerhouse team. And Alabama, for their part, served notice that they remain a vital and competitive member of the exclusive 'Big Four' club, the teams which have won an NCAA team championship.

As promised, more about Kassi Price. After one of her patented high-quality evenings of gymnastics, Kassi tied for the all-around title with Florida ace, Corey Hartung. Arguably the brightest light in what many consider to be Bama's most stellar recruiting class ever, Kassi arrived on campus last season with an impressive gymnastics resume, including some outstanding victories in international competition and more years on the National team than, well, anybody. Be that as it may, elite gymnastics is a totally different animal than college gymnastics. Elite gymnastics emphasizes tremendous difficulty, where college gymnastics, while requiring less difficulty, mandates outstanding execution. That difference caused Kassi some growing pains last season.

All of that is over, and that's not surprising at all to those of us lucky enough to have gotten to know Kassi a little. The comparisons are easy enough to make: the combination of smarts and talent like Meredith Willard, the ultra-smooth uneven bar work like Stephanie Woods, the first-rate beam work like coach Dana Duckworth, the envelope-pushing difficulty on floor exercise like Ashley Miles. However, the most apt comparison might just be with her head coach, Sarah Patterson, with whom Kassi shares tremendous determination and competitive fire. No less than six of Florida's gymnasts, half of the team, trained at Orlando Metro, Kassi's home gym. We're sure glad she decided to buck the trend! Roll Tide!!!