The 2001 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Season officially starts off with a loud bang in Coleman Coliseum on Saturday Night, January 6, 2001, with six outstanding teams taking the floor: the Stanford Cardinal, the University of Florida Gators, Penn State's Nittany Lions, the University of Michigan Wolverines, the Georgia Bulldogs, and the Alabama Crimson Tide. Competing for the first time as collegians will be several former USA national team members, including Jeana Rice, Marline Stephens, Sierra Sapunar, Chelsa Byrd, Lindsay Wing, Kendall Beck, Cory Fritzinger, Robin Phelps, Erinn Dooley and Katie McFarland. A number of outstanding Canadian national team gymnasts will also be competing. Let's take a closer look at some of the likely competitors for this exciting event:

1. Stanford: While the Cardinal did not make it to the NCAA Championships in 2000, they nevertheless had an outstanding recruiting year and boast seven freshmen this year, three of whom are former USA national team members and one a Canadian national team member. Look for early and strong all around performances from freshmen Lindsay Wing, Kendall Beck and Robin Phelps. Each of these gymnasts is super talented on just about every event, with Beck being the most powerful on the floor and vault and Phelps and Wing perhaps the strongest on uneven bars and balance beam. Juniors Katy Herbert, Becky Meldrum and Kristin Jensen should provide much needed leadership on the floor, vault and uneven bars with help from sophomores Abby Gair and Alissa Cooper. Lone senior, Jennifer Exaltacion, initially should be the strongest Cardinal on all four events barring an injury or early conditioning problems. If the Stanford Cardinal can get strong and consistent performances from their freshmen throughout the 2001 season, look for them to seriously challenge UCLA in the Pac 10 and return to the national championships in Athens in April.
2. Penn State: The Nittany Lions lost three key gymnasts after the 2000 season but they made it once again to nationals and have high hopes for the 2001 season. Senior Gemma Cuff (all around) is arguably the most disciplined and talented gymnast on the Nittany Lion team and has big skills to showcase on vault and floor exercise especially. Senior Maria Taylor should provide depth on the uneven bars and balance beam, and, along with Cuff and junior Jennifer Drilling (all around), will need to carry the leadership load since this is primarily a sophomore and freshman team. Katie Rowland (sophomore all arounder) is an exciting gymnast on the floor and is looking to increase her skills on the vault and balance beam to boost the team's scores throughout the season. Katie McAvoy (sophomore) has the big skills but needs to be in top condition to seriously contribute on all four events. Leslie Bair should again be a force on the floor and freshmen Dana Sulyma, Richelle Simpson and Kelly Streicher will be expected to contribute on a number of events early on. Look for Penn State to contend once again for a spot at nationals with the goal of breaking into the super six.
3. Florida: The Gators are coming off a very tough year, laden with injuries and off-the-field disappointments that resulted in a nine member team and very little depth needed to seriously contend for an SEC and National Championship. The good news, however, is that they also had a stellar recruiting year, nabbing three former USA national team members (Erinn Dooley, Katie McFarland, and Kristen Stuckey), who bring big-time skills to Gator Country that will undoubtedly help them regain their competitive edge in the SEC. Seniors Teal Chiabotti (vault, balance beam and floor exercise) and Gabby Fuchs are expected to contribute on at least two, possibly three events each while junior Hilary Thompson and sophomore Lindsey Miner will likely go all around with freshmen Dooley and McFarland. Stuckey tore her ACL early during preseason and will have to redshirt this year (this is her second knee injury in the last three years). Jennifer Carow (sophomore) has excellent skills on uneven bars and balance beam but appeared to be hindered last year due to a lack of conditioning. The Gators should easily return to nationals if they can avoid another season-ending injury. Dooley has a realistic chance of vying for SEC "freshman of the year" honors and all around honors at nationals as well.
4. Michigan: The Wolverines lost several great gymnasts after their sixth place finish at nationals but are gleeful that Olympian Elise Ray will be joining the team officially in mid-January 2001. However, for the Super Six Challenge, look for several strong UM gymnasts to showcase their skills in her place, including sophomore Janessa Grieco (all around), senior Bridget Knaeble (all around), Christine Michaud (vault and floor exercise), Amy Kuczera (uneven bars, balance beam, floor exercise), Melissa Peterson (balance beam), Calli Ryals (uneven bars) and Karina Senior (floor exercise). Jodie Rosenberg should also be a force on vault and floor exercise. The Wolverines are expected to contend once again for Big 10 and National Championship trophies, led by their freshman phenom, Ray, on at least three of four events.
5. Georgia: There is no doubt that the Bulldogs had a super recruiting year, nabbing Sierra Sapunar, Marline Stephens, Kinsey Rowe, Cory Fritzinger, and Chelsa Byrd, all former USA national team members (Rowe a junior national team member). However, the loss of Monica Flammer and Anna Gingrich from their sophomore class due to medical problems (Breanne Rutherford and Cassie Bair remain) and the inconsistent performances of juniors Dani Maurone and Eileen Diaz during the 2000 season, may result in a lot of early expectations being placed on the shoulders of the super frosh. The good news is that junior Talya Vexler and seniors Kristi Lichey, Amanda Curry, Suzanne Sears and Kathleen Shrieves are ready to lead the team to a third national championship in four years. Coach Yoculan has already stated that as many as 15 of 24 routines may come from the freshmen at the beginning of the season. Injuries and overall conditioning, as well as team cohesion and maturity, will all play a role in whether the Bulldogs achieve their lofty goal. And it doesn't hurt that the national championship will be hosted in Athens this year! Look for super all around performances from Fritzinger, Lichey, Byrd, and possibly Sapunar.
6. Alabama: On paper, this is the strongest, most talented gymnastics team Alabama has ever fielded. What will it take to bring home a second Super Six Challenge victory? Sheer hunger and a desire to finish no less than first. This was the team's attitude following a disappointing and shocking fifth place finish at nationals in 2000 and their determination as a team to change this outcome begins January 6th in Coleman Coliseum, hopefully in front of a capacity crowd of 15,000 plus. Anchoring the Tide's efforts once again will be super junior All American, Andree Pickens, who has added difficulty on all four events, including a fifth release move on the uneven bars and a second 10.0 start value vault. She will be expected to compete in the all around, along with sophomore All American, Kristen Sterner, freshman and USA national team member, Jeana Rice, junior Raegan Tomasek and senior All American, Katie Hornecker, who is in the best physical condition of her career so far at the Capstone. Senior All American Dara Stewart will return for her final year with added difficulty on her signature event, the uneven bars, and is expected to provide depth on balance beam and the vault. Junior All American, Natalie Barrington will anchor the uneven bar line up and possibly will see action on the balance beam at the Super Six Challenge. Senior All American Lissy Smith will anchor the balance beam rotation and is expected to debut a new and more difficult floor exercise routine. Junior Whitney Morgan looked excellent throughout fall practices and may be tapped for the vault, uneven bars and floor exercise on January 6th. Sophomore Sara Scarborough is expected to compete her first 10.0 start value vault at this meet as well, along with freshman Stephanie Kite (vault and possibly floor exercise). Still recovering from knee injuries, Alexa Martinez and Robin Hawkins, are doubtful for the first meet but are expected to resume competition on the bars and balance beam by late January.