The event was held Saturday night at "The Zone" located in Bryant-Denny Stadium with more then 300 in attendance.

In addition to honoring the Pattersons for their 30 years coaching Alabama, the Tide also celebrated its 26th consecutive NCAA Championship appearance, 24th national top-six finish and 23rd NCAA Regional title as well as its back-to-back sellouts of Coleman Coliseum this season.

• Post Meet Commentary: 2008 NCAA National Championships (Thurs Session 1)

Despite drawing the coveted Olympic rotation order (VT-UB-BB-FX), the Crimson Tide was unable to take proper advantage on their first three events, resulting in a sixth place finish in the Super Six Finals here in Stegeman Coliseum on the campus of the University of Georgia.  The Crimson Tide was the only team that had to count a fall on an event (48.425 on balance beam) and yet recovered from the disappointment to navigate the highest score on floor exercise in the sixth rotation among all teams competing (49.525).  Senior concluded a great career for the Crimson Tide by performing on the uneven bars (9.775) and Floor Exercise (9.850) in the Super Six.  The Tide will now look forward to post-season honors (3 gymnasts reached first team All America status), both athletically and academically, as they close out the 2008 season with the Medalist Club banquet at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday, May 3rd at 7 pm.  Here are some of the observations recorded during the Super Six Finals:

• Post Meet Commentary: 2008 NCAA National Championships (Supersix)

• Due to NCAA Rules, we won't be able to post our video until the CBS TV Broadcast of the NCAA Nationals on May 10.

ATHENS, Ga. - Three Alabama Gymnasts competed in tonight's NCAA Individual Event Finals and all three finished in the top-8 of their respective events.

"I challenged our ladies last night to start the 2009 season on the floor exercise and that's what they did," Alabama head coach Sarah Patterson said. "I know the ladies sitting in the stands tonight were looking at things they can use and thinking of ways they can be out there next year. Our ladies who competed tonight did a great job and took another great step towards next year."

Sophomore , who won this event a year ago after waiting through 16 routines to compete, was the second gymnast up in this year's floor exercise final, scoring a 9.9 to take fourth place. It marks the ninth year in a row that an Alabama gymnast has figured among the nation's top six on the floor exercise. Georgia's Courtney McCool won the floor exercise title with a 9.9625.

ATHENS, Ga. - After two falls on the balance beam here at the NCAA Championships kept them from a top three finish, the Alabama Gymnastics team bounced back strong, closing out the night with the highest score on any event at this competition, posting 49.525 on the floor exercise.

"After balance beam, when we were on a bye, I said to our senior, Kaitlin (White), 'I want you to go out there and finish off your career with the best routine you can do,'" Patterson said. "And I told the rest of the ladies that while we couldn't win a championship tonight, I wanted them to go out on their last event and show 'Tide Pride', show that they have pride in their program. I'm just proud that they came back and showed what we are made of."

ATHENS, Ga. - For the Alabama Gymnastics team, Thursday's preliminary session of the NCAA Championships was all about one thing, and one thing only, advancing to the Super Six Team Finals.

The Crimson Tide accomplished that goal by finishing second in the first of two prelim sessions, advancing to finals for the 14th time since NCAA went to the two- day team format in 1993. Only Georgia has been to more Super Six finals than Alabama.

But there were other things on the line Thursday, other honors and other placings that will come into play on Saturday as three Alabama gymnasts advance to individual event finals and four earned All-American accolades.

After starting on vault, the Tide will go to a bye, followed by the uneven bars and balance beam and then a second bye. Alabama will finish off the meet on the floor exercise in the sixth and final rotation.

NCAA Journal: Day 3: Back to the Super Six

WE DID IT! We made it back to the Super Six and we couldn't possibly be more excited!!! I can't wait for all our freshmen and sophomores to see what the most exhilarating and rewarding night of competition is like...it truly is an indescribable feeling. It's our Olympic Games

Our goal today was top three. Simple as that. We just wanted to advance to tomorrow night's meet. It's hard to compete two days in a row, and even harder to have two awesome meets. So with a few mistakes and jitters behind us, we're going all out tomorrow!! It's the time to put everything out there, go for broke, and not hold anything back! We've been improving all season and I think we've finally reached our peak. People have seen small glimpses of our ability, but nobody has seen us put it all together yet.

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ATHENS, Ga. - The Alabama Gymnastics team advanced to Friday's NCAA Super Six Team Finals after finishing second in the first of today's two preliminary sessions here at the NCAA Championships being held in Stegeman Coliseum on the University of Georgia campus this week.

The Crimson Tide, making their 26th consecutive NCAA Championship appearance, used a 196.650 to advance, following Florida's 196.925 and ahead of LSU's 196.575. Oklahoma was fourth with a 196.075, followed by Arkansas, 195.825, and Oregon State, 195.475.

NCAA Journal: Day Two: Game On!

Just wanted to give you an update on our second day out here at NCAAs. We drew the first practice session today so we were up and at breakfast before 9 this morning and then headed over to Stegeman Coliseum for an 11 am workout. We started on beam to simulate the rotation order for tomorrow's competition. Everyone really adjusted well and I think we definitely looked like the most relaxed and confident team out there on the floor. And we definitely were the best looking team, thanks to Sarah's wonderful fashion taste that was obvious in our new white pullovers:) Ha ha...nothing like new clothes to motivate a girl to get the job done this weekend!!

After an awesome workout we all headed back to the hotel. Morgan, Kayla, Kassi, and Kaitlin all had interviews and press conferences and I'm sure they all did a fabulous job. Most of us walked downtown Athens and shopped around at the cute little boutiques and enjoyed the gorgeous weather. After working up a bit of an appetite we met the bus out front of the hotel and headed to Outback for a team dinner. Let me tell ya, so far we have been blessed with incredibly nice staff and servers everywhere we've gone.

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