Nationals - Thursday Afternoon Session

The NCAA Gymnastics Championships start this Thursday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. (EDT). Teams will compete to earn one of three spots into the Super Six round on Friday. The remaining three teams will be chosen from the evening session starting at 7:00 p.m. (EDT). Alabama will be competing in the afternoon session with 1^st ranked UCLA, 7^th ranked Michigan, 12^th ranked Florida, 19^th ranked Oklahoma and 24^th ranked Denver.

The defending National Champions, UCLA, are a favorite to win this championship. They have incredible depth on every event, particularly on bars and beam, where they have 8 members on both events that have scored 9.9 or better this season. The team has racked up 20 scores of 10.0 this year, the majority of them on the floor exercise. They have great difficulty and skill on this event, and have not counted a fall on floor since 1999. And to add to it, they have some of the best-choreographed routines in the country, thanks to the talents of their coach Valerie Kondos Field. They are a triple threat, difficulty, consistency, and grace. This flare for dance carries onto the balance beam where the team's unique routines also shine. UCLA is ranked first in the country on bars, due largely in part to the big skills they can throw, which includes eight team members with an "E" level dismount. But again, beyond the big skills, they have the consistency and the form, not only to do the moves, but do them perfect. On vault, seven regular vaulters for the Bruins are able to compete 10.0 start value vaults, giving them an advantage over teams who will not be competing a full line up of 10.0 vaults. Expect great performances by Senior Mohini Bhardwaj, and Freshman Jamie Dantzscher, who have been performing consistently all season. But it will be the power of the remaining team members that will write the rest of the story for this team this week. While the freshmen Olympians names will be on everyone's mind, including Kristin Maloney and Yvonne Tousek from Canada, one must not forget the members who brought UCLA to its National Championship win last year. Senior Onnie Willis, and Sophomore Kristin Parker have continued their strong performances on all events, but particularly floor and vault, and Sophomore Doni Thompson continues her assault on bars. Perhaps the only shortcoming of this team, will be their inexperience with the large zealous crowds that will be awaiting them in Athens.

The Michigan Wolverines are looking for a Triple Crown this year, after winning the Big Ten and NCAA Northeast Regionals. Olympian recruit Elise Ray has been a tremendous asset to the team. Her tumbling skills and beautiful form have yielded strong all around performances. Senior Bridget Knaeble continues to be a strong all around competitor for the Wolverines particularly on floor and uneven bars. These two events are the strongest and deepest for this team overall. Senior Karina Senior has the potential to hit big routines, but has had trouble with consistency at times throughout the season. Sophomore Janessa Grieco earned All-American honors on vault, and her tumbling skills become apparent on floor exercise. Freshman Calli Ryals has made a strong statement for the team on floor exercise having a regional qualifying score of 9.91, tying that of her teammate Knaeble. Specialists to watch for are Senior Chrissy Michaud, first team All American last year on vault, Junior Amy Kuczera on the uneven bars, and Junior and first team All American on beam, Sbannon MacKenzie. Balance beam has been Michigan's weakest event, struggling with falls, and trying to develop consistency.

The Florida Gators know what it means to compete as a team, as they have had to be a strong unit throughout the season in order to make it to this week's competition. They are in the middle of the pack as far as rankings are concerned and will likely battle it out for the third spot into the Super Six on Friday. Their depth is limited due to having only 9 competitive gymnasts on the team. They lost several talented gymnasts prior to, and very early on in the season, to illness and injury. Junior Hilary Thompson has been the team's strong all around competitor and is ranked on the beam and in the all around. Freshman Kara Waterhouse has been a steady performer for the team, with scores of 9.9 or better on beam, floor and bars. On the floor exercise Sophomore Lindsey Miner has become a top competitor in the line up. Senior Teal Chiabotti has been the team's most powerful and consistent vaulter this season. Joining Thompson and Waterhouse with season highs of 9.925 on the uneven bars, is freshman Erin Pendleton. This team has shown their drive and determination to remain competitive this season, but will it be enough to overcome what they lack in numbers?

If knowledge is power, than Oregon State will be one of the most powerful coming in to the Nationals. They have faced 6 of the top 8 teams this season, and know what to expect from them. Their strongest events are beam and bars. Although capable of high scores on the floor, they have struggled with consistency, in particular during Regionals, where they had to count 2 falls on floor, but managed to rally back on vault. Their strongest member is Senior Katrina Severin. She holds the team's highest scores on all three events she competes in, beam, floor, and on vault, a 10.0. She is ranked on all three events including a 4^th ranking on vault. Senior Stephanie Bychowski is ranked on bars and beam, 8^th and 12^th respectively. Other notables are Sophomore Elizabeth Jillson on bars and Senior Lara Degenhardt on floor. This team will be coming ready to compete, after lessons learned this season.

For the first time since 1989, the Oklahoma Sooners will be competing at the NCAA Nationals. The addition of Steve Nunno as Co-head coach this year, has made an impact on this small team of 9 competitive athletes. It will be interesting to see how his technical experience with elite gymnasts competing at international levels, has helped this team flourish. There are no seniors upon whose experience to rely on. The team is young, with four freshmen. Among them, Kasie Tamayo has made the biggest impact on the team as an all around competitor who leads the team on beam with the highest regional qualifying score and a season high of 9.925. Sophomore Letitia Ishii has become a strong and consistent competitor in the all around along with Junior Mariana Goncalves. Sophomore Leah Mueller has struggled on beam this season but has season high scores of 9.9 or better on the other 3 events. Of particular note on floor is Sophomore Patricia Aoki who has been extremely consistent. This team is on a roll and looking to let collegiate fans know that they have arrived.

It's going to be a fantastic start to an incredible weekend of gymnastics. The afternoon draw will give Bama fans a chance to let our gymnasts know we are there in full force, without being drowned out by the din of barking dogs. Leaner, Faster, Stronger, Meaner, Roll Tide Roll!

NCAA National Championship
Thursday, April 19, 2001
1:00 p.m.
Stegman Coliseum
Athens, GA