CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - One of the most prolific gymnasts in NCAA history is headed to Southeast Missouri State University. The Southeast gymnastics team announced the signing of Andreé Pickens as new assistant coach. Pickens, a 14-time All-American, joins a Southeast squad that is coming off its best season since 1998.

Pickens has too many accomplishments to list them all, but some of her greatest achievements include winning an NCAA National Championship on balance beam (1999) and uneven bars (2002), earning the 2002 Honda-Broderick Award for gymnastics (given to the national gymnast of the year), and the 2002 NCAA Top VIII Award winner - the most prestigious award given by the NCAA.

"Her accomplishments and success as a collegiate athlete speak for themselves," said Head Coach Tom Farden. "She's had an amazing career and we hope her experience in championship athletics can help our program move forward to a championship level."

The 2002 seniors rode out in style on a 'high tide' of accomplishment; a fitting end for Bama's 'fantastic five'. A team championship and Andreé Pickens' championship on the uneven bars combined to bring a long chapter in Crimson Tide gymnastics to a close. It had been an exciting ride, going all the way from missing out on the Super Six in 1997 to winning it all in 2002. And fans, coaches, and the Tide gymnasts returning for the 2003 season could look back with pride at all that had been accomplished during that time. The record-setting scores, the record-setting crowds, the seemingly endless chain of All-Americans, Academic All-Americans, and NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarships, the trend-setting and widely-recognized involvement in community outreach and charity programs - yes, the Bama GymNation had much to pause and reflect back over while resting on their well-deserved laurels.

Yeah, right. No sooner did the Tide get those laurel leaves in a nice pile and all fluffed up, when bunch of imps showed up to scatter them to the four winds. And a wide-eyed, sunshine-after-a-rain, girls-just-gotta-have-fun bunch of talented imps they have turned out to be, too. Of course I'm talking about the 2003 freshman class.

One of the fascinating features of college athletics is the 'ebb and flow' of it all. Just about the time your favorite team rounds into shape, they all graduate. The next thing you know, a bunch of freshmen are milling around, bumping into each other. You can't see any possible way they can pick up the slack. And they don't, really, it's all a lot more complicated than that - complicated and interesting.