BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Alabama gymnast, Jeana Rice, the 2004 NCAA All-Around Champion, has been named the 2003-04 Roy F. Kramer Female Athlete of the Year by a vote of the Southeastern Conference's athletics directors. Arkansas trackster Alistair Cragg earned the men's award.

"I am extremely excited for Jeana," Alabama head gymnastics coach Sarah Patterson said. "This is an incredible honor, especially considering the level of competition in the Southeastern Conference. To be judged the best athlete in the nation's top conference says volumes about the kind of season and career Jeana has had. She has been consistently spectacular throughout her career, and this is a testament to all she has achieved."

This season, Jeana Rice earned a postseason 'triple crown', winning the all-around at the SEC Championships, the NCAA West Region Championships and the NCAA Championships. She also earned the Honda Award for Gymnastics denoting the nation's best gymnast. She is the fifth Alabama gymnast to win the Honda since 1985.

Senior gymnast Stephanie Kite of the University of Alabama, one of eight repeat selections on the first team, heads the 2003-04 Academic All-America® Women's At-Large team announced today by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

The Women's At-Large program for the Academic All-America program includes the sports of bowling, crew, fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming, tennis and water polo.

"Stephanie has again made the University of Alabama and the Crimson Tide gymnastics family very proud," head gymnastics coach Sarah Patterson said. "It is one thing for her teammates and coaches to know the effort and dedication that went into all she has accomplished, but it is even more gratifying when that effort, and its results, are recognized on a national level."

by David Patterson

The Friday before our annual Ride of Love for the children of Camp Smile-A-Mile, I felt great, knowing what awaited me on Monday, June 14. In 2002, I joined Stephanie Wilkins on the ride she began the previous year. Last year we ended up with 13 riders and I was thrilled to know that our group had grown to over 40 riders this year. As in the past, the ride exists to benefit children that have been forced to deal with the horrors of cancer. My training had gone well, and I had put in more miles this year than ever before in preparing the ride. I was also looking forward to riding with coach Bryan Raschilla, former gymnasts Whitney Morgan and Kristin Sterner, as well as our team doctor, Jimmy Robinson.

Then, on the Saturday before the ride, I woke up and found myself with a sore throat, congestion, and a hacking cough. I did not leave the house on Saturday or Sunday, trying to conserve my energy. Monday morning, the day of the ride, I felt a little bit better, and was determined to give the ride my best, knowing that these children had faced far worse days in their lives. Sarah and some friends that came to see us off were obviously worried about me. David Truhett, our Sunday school teacher, sent an emergency email to those in our class requesting their prayers to help me through the day.

The day was overcast and we experienced some showers, but the sun and the heat never became a problem, and for that I was grateful. My struggles started just prior to lunch. When going up hills, my right leg was on the verge of cramping and I had developed a loud wheezing when trying to take deep breaths. On the steeper hills, I started using my right arm to push my leg down to try to take some of the pressure off and prevent a full fledged cramp from locking my leg up. I had experienced severe cramping once several years ago and I knew if it happened, I would not be able to keep up with the group.

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More photos from Camp Smile-A-Mile!

• Photo Album: Camp Smile-A-Mile (added photos)

Here are a few of the Photos:
(Click on a thumbnail to view a full size picture)

27 kb A tired David Patterson gets a hug from Sarah

24 kb Bryan-Whitney-Ashton-David-Kristin

25 kb CampSAMers and staff go to greet the Riders

More than 40 riders left the parking lot of the Tuscaloosa IHOP this morning at 6 a.m. to make the one-day, 150-mile trek to Camp Smile-A-Mile located at Children's Harbor in Alexander City, Ala.

The "Ride of Love" raises money for Camp SAM, an organization that provides children with cancer the opportunity to participate in the summer camp experience. The Ride will wind through 6 counties - Tuscaloosa, Bibb, Chilton, Coosa, Tallapoosa, and Elmore - over all the hills and valley's in between.

And among those 45 riders there will be several with ties to the Alabama Gymnastics program, chief among them is assistant head coach David Patterson. This will be Patterson's third year participating in the Ride, which has raised nearly $70,000 in its first three years of existence. The Ride, in its fourth year, is the brainchild of Stephanie Wilkins, the gymnastics team's nutritionist and a counselor and board member of Camp SAM. Wilkins made the first ride solo in 2001. The next year she was joined by Patterson, himself a cancer survivor. Last year the duo was joined by several more riders. Each year the Ride has raised more money than the year before. The goal in 2004 is $40,000.

We've got a photo album for the event!

• Photo Album: Camp Smile-A-Mile

Here are a few of the Photos:
(Click on a thumbnail to view a full size picture)

16 kb Bryan-Whitney

13 kb David-Whitney-Jimmy-Kristin-Bryan

12 kb SarahDavidJordanPatterson

There are many days, especially after mid-April when the collegiate season ends, that David Patterson, assistant head coach of the University Alabama's four-time NCAA Champions gymnastics squad, rides his bicycle farther than most people in Tuscaloosa will drive their cars in a week.

These aren't idle rides through the country side. Patterson is a man with a mission, fitting long training hours into an already packed schedule so that he will be ready for the annual "Ride of Love", a one-day, 150-mile trek through Alabama which raises money for Camp Smile-A-Mile. Camp SAM provides children with cancer the opportunity to participate in the summer camp experience.

The 2004 Ride, which gets underway at 6 a.m. Monday, June 14, will wind through 6 counties - Tuscaloosa, Bibb, Chilton, Coosa, Tallapoosa, and Elmore - over all the hills and valley's in between.

We have a new "Chalk Talk" from Coach Patterson:

• ChalkTalk: June 11, 2004

Follow Alabama signee Terin Humphrey's progress at the 2004 USA Gymnastics Championships being held in Nashville, Tenn. this week.

• USA 2004 Gymnastics Championships

"Sophomore Slump to Super Six sensation. . ."

"The off-season, regardless of how well the team finishes the year before, is always a time of hope and anticipation for gymnastics fans. And it is a frustrating time, as well. Unlike the more 'high profile' sports - like football and basketball, say - it is often difficult to find out what is going on with the new gymnastics recruits. The complexities of the NCAA rules and regulations concerning recruiting, even when the rules don't actually prohibit the coaches from talking about a signee, tend to make them, understandably, reluctant to do so. In fact, until the very recent advent of an internet site or two, there was virtually no place to go to get an idea about what impact incoming freshmen might have. And, unlike football (but like basketball) one or two recruits in gymnastics can make a huge difference."