The Alabama gymnastics team, ranked No. 4 in the preseason poll, reported back to Tuscaloosa on Sunday and began training again Monday (Dec. 27).

"We're excited to have everyone back safe and sound and now we're ready to get things going for the last stretch of workouts before the season gets started," head coach Sarah Patterson said.

Tickets to the 2005 NCAA Gymnastics Championships, held April 21-23, in Auburn, Ala. will go on sale Tuesday, Dec. 21 through the Auburn Ticket Office. Tickets can be ordered by calling 1-800-282-1957 or online at www.auburntigers.com/2005NCAAGym/

Alabama Gymnastics has been to 22 consecutive NCAA Championships, better than all but one program in the history of the NCAA. Last season, Alabama finished third and won three individual national titles. This year's Crimson Tide squad features three-time NCAA Champion Ashley Miles, two-time Olympic silver medalist Terin Humphrey and four returning All- Americans.

Alabama season tickets are available through the UA ticket office at 205.348.BAMA or online at www.rolltide.com.

Bama was hard at it in the practice gym this past Sunday. Some positive news to report is the reappearance in the gym of sophomore Brittany Comeaux, who was working primarily on the uneven bars and the vault today. Several Tide gymnasts were working complete routines and fine-tuning their floor choreography on this date. This was a shorter practice than usual due to the team's scheduled community service visit to nearby DCH Hospital, where some Tide Tykes were eagerly awaiting their arrival. Highlights from practice included:

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

• Chalk talk - Friday, December 03, 2004

Alabama gymnastics coach Sarah Patterson announced the signing of four student-athletes to national letters of intent.

Melanie Banville, Cassie Martin, Courtney Priess and Bianca Puello have all committed to the Crimson Tide and will join the Tide for the 2005-06 season.

"We're very pleased to have these young women join our program," Patterson said. "They were all attracted to The University of Alabama by our gymnastics program, but they were additionally convinced that this is the place for them due to the academic opportunities that are available. The honors programs and our rapid rise in the national standings as an academic institution played a role in their decision."

PBAs, one member of Tandem Team and the Salty Dog dropped in at practice on this date following a grueling day's work on the new website design with our favorite computer guru, Barry.  The new look of gymtide.com has about one more week of tinkering before its debut.  Updated roster information, photos of the team and more practice reports will be coming with the new "face" of The Medalist Club website.  Here's how the ladies were looking in the gym today...

We've got a photo album and slide show for the Ghosts and Goblins match

• Photo Album: Ghosts and Goblins
• Slide Show: Ghosts and Goblins

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

80149 kb 44. Coaches and team gather for the result-Goblins Rule!

60753 kb 15. The gleeful ghouls

85695 kb 01. Octobers end means Ghosts and Goblins contend

The University of Alabama Gymnastics Practice Facility, part of the Coleman Coliseum Annex, will be dedicated the "Frances Smith Gymnastics Practice Facility" Friday, November 5 during a ceremony at Coleman Coliseum.

Mr. Steve D. Smith of Tuscaloosa made a one million dollar gift to the Crimson Tradition Fund in honor of his mother, a life-long Alabama fan who "never misses a home gymnastics meet."

"All of my life our family have been loyal fans and spectators of the Crimson Tide," Mr. Steve Smith said. "In 45 years as a local business in Tuscaloosa, we have been the beneficiaries of an extraordinary institution like The University of Alabama. I felt this was my opportunity to give back to a school that has meant so much to us as community members and Crimson Tide fans."

Tide fans turned out in force on Friday, October 29, 2004 to get a peek at the 2005 Alabama Gymnastics Team during the annual Ghosts vs Goblins intra-squad meet.  This festive competition serves as a barometer of the team's progress to date and confirms for the coaches where they need to focus their efforts for the remaining weeks of the Fall practice season.

We've got a photo album and slide show for the Quad Team Poster Signing

• Photo Album: Quad Team Poster Signing
• Slide Show: Quad Team Poster Signing

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

56324 kb 01.Senior Michelle Reeser leads off and scores a hit with fans

63242 kb 02.The lineup of Rachael, Brittany, Erin, and Shannon lightens up

52491 kb 03.Dana F and frosh Jessie Silver are hits with fans

The Alabama gymnastics program released its 2005 schedule today, featuring five teams that finished in the top-7 at last year's NCAA Championships.

The 2005 schedule features perennial powerhouses Georgia, Stanford, LSU and Florida along with up and coming programs UNC, Iowa State and Auburn.

"I don't think our schedule ever gets easier," head coach Sarah Patterson, in her 27th season at the Capstone, said. "Once again I think we've put together a 'fan's schedule' while mixing in some new faces at home. I think fans will be especially excited to see the match up of co-NCAA Floor Exercise Champions Ashley Miles and UNC's Courtney Bumpers. Overall I think it's a great schedule and it will certainly get us ready for the postseason."

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

• Chalk talk - October 26, 2004

With less than 6 days before the annual Ghosts versus Goblins intra-squad, the Crimson Tide was hard at work perfecting some of the skills they plan to showcase this coming Friday afternoon. Ashley Miles, Brittany Comeaux and Dana Pierce were missing due to previously scheduled personal events on this date but it was pleasing to note that all of the remaining members were hard at work on their individual routines.  In fact, there were several skills being thrown that literally shocked PBAs because of the particular individual who was executing them.  Are you ready to learn more?

• [ 2004 T.J. Maxx Tour of Gymnastics Champions GROUP TICKETS ] - Adobe acrobat format (Get free Acrobat reader here)

INDIANAPOLIS - The 2004 T.J. Maxx Tour of Gymnastics Champions, featuring all-around champion Carly Patterson and Alabama gymnastics recruit Terin Humphrey, will tumble through Birmingham at 7 p.m. Nov. 23 with a newly added stop at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex Arena.

The T.J. Maxx Tour - the nation's premier post-Olympic gymnastics tour - features members of the silver medal- winning men's and women's gymnastics Olympic Team that brought home a record total of nine medals. The visit is a return trip for the team, which trained for the T.J. Maxx Tour in Birmingham after evacuating Florida ahead of Hurricane Ivan.

The addition of Birmingham brings the total number of cities on the T.J. Maxx Tour to 41. Tickets for the Birmingham show go on sale at 10 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 7 at all Birmingham area Ticketmaster locations, online at ticketmaster.com, charge by phone at (205) 715-6000, and at the BJCC Arena Box Office. For group tickets, contact Group Sales at (205) 458-8487.

The Medalist Club is proud to announce the creation of the Sarah Patterson Distinguished Alumni Award. The purpose of this award is to continue the Alabama Gymnastics tradition of involvement with the people who have been the basis of the creation of this exceptional program. It is the intention of the Medalist club to cite and honor those members of the Alabama Gymnastics family who continue to lead in life and in their profession as they did in the gym and in the classroom while contributing to the success of the program on a daily basis.

More information [ right here ]

We've got a photo album for the Quad Signing and Rings Ceremonies

• Photo Album: Quad Signing and Rings Ceremonies

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

38199 kb erin-fan-shannon

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Alabama fans will get their first official look at the 2005 Crimson Tide Gymnastics team Saturday, Oct. 2 when the team will be signing autographs on the University of Alabama Quad from 3-4 pm.

Fans will get to meet three-time NCAA Champion Ashley Miles, All-Americans Alexis Brion, Mari Bayer and Shannon Hrozek along with returners Brittany Comeaux, Rachael Delahoussaye, Dana Filetti, Meredith Laxton, Dana Pierce, Michelle Reeser and Erin Rightley. They will also get their first peek at rookies Jessie Silver, Mindy Weber and Kaitlin White. Freshman Terin Humphrey is currently on tour with her U.S. Olympic teammates and will join the Tide in late December in time to start the 2005 competitive season.

And at halftime of the Alabama-South Carolina football game, which gets underway at 5 p.m., Miles and 2004 senior Jeana Rice will receive their NCAA Individual Championship Rings along with diver Lane Bassham. Miles won the NCAA Vault and Floor Exercise title in 2004 while Rice won the NCAA All-Around championship. Bassham, a senior last year, won the NCAA Three-meter Diving championship.

Update: Anyone wishing to sign up for the [ bus trips ] for 2005 may do so at the Quad during the pre-game activities of the South Carolina football game (Saturday, October 2, 2004). We will set up close to where the gymnasts will be signing autographs. So if you would rather do that than call or e-mail this is your opportunity.

Today was the first official practice for the Alabama Gymnastics team.  PBAs, Salto and a host of other interested observers stormed the gymnastics complex to see what the gals were up to.  Several eye-popping elements were being thrown by the veterans and we are happy to report that everyone is in excellent shape for so early in the fall practice season. One bit of news included the decision by Johnna Gay, a walk on from Mobile, to discontinue college gymnastics. Johnna earned Scholastic All America honors her freshman year and exhibited last season on the vault and on the floor exercise at the LSU meet in Baton Rouge, where she scored a 9.825.  Best of luck to Johnna as she continues her education at the Capstone.  Another bit of news involved newcomer Jessie Silver from Forney, Texas (a suburb of Dallas), who has walked onto the team for 2005.  Now onto the highlights!

"We're all going to be part of the T.J. Maxx Tour, which I think has 38 stops across the country (with the closest stop in St. Louis). Then I am going to enroll at the University of Alabama in January. I wanted to enroll this fall, but I'm going to be too busy."

• First & 10 Conversation: Terin Humphrey

• Terin takes silver - [Note: Registration required]
• U.S. far from uneven in gym - [Note: Registration required]
• Humphrey ends Olympic run with a second silver - [Note: Registration required]

For Terin Humphrey, good things come in twos. The Bates City, Mo. native, who will join the University of Alabama gymnastics this season, had already earned one silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympic during the team competition earlier in the week. Now she has two silver medals, having taken second in the uneven bars today.

Humphrey scored a 9.662 to finish just behind France's Emilie Lepennec who took gold with a 9.687. The U.S.'s Courtney Kupets took the bronze with a 9.637. It was a good day for the U.S. team as Annia Hatch took silver in the vault with a score of 9.481. The individual finals of the balance beam and floor exercise gets underway Monday.

"It is unbelievable, so amazing," Humphrey said of the medal. "You can't know what it really feels like, winning a medal, unless you are out there on the podium."

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

• ChalkTalk: USA Going for Gold!

Jeana Rice, like so many athletes in her grueling, demanding, all-consuming sport, has spent much of her life in gymnastics. In fact, you could reasonably say her entire life, since Jeana's folks are former gymnasts and still intimately involved with the sport. After all those hours, years - decades - in the gym, then, the concept of a senior season - a 'last year' in gymnastics, so to speak - must have been a little hard to fathom.

The 2004 season found the GymTide looking to replace their reliably high-scoring two-year captain, Kristin Sterner - a daunting task. For the first three years of Jeana's college career, the team benefitted from a real 'embarrassment of riches' in terms of team leadership. Her first year squad was led by no less than a three-time team captain, the indomitable Lissy Smith. 2002, of course - Jeana's sophomore year - was the year of the National Championship and Bama's 'fab five', featuring Andreé Pickens. Never-the-less, that team tapped Junior Kristin Sterner as team captain, a role she naturally retained for the 2003 season.

So, the 2004 Tide seniors, Jeana, Lauren Holdefer, and Stephanie Kite, had to step up more fully into the roles of team leaders. As Jeana told Tom Roberts during an interview broadcast on the Hey, Coach! radio show, "I think that we have tried to kind of 'divvy up' leadership roles...we all play a different part as leaders."²⁶ Naturally, as the season went along a slightly different dynamic began to emerge, but more about that in due time.

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.

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.

[ more... ]

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

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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."

We've got another slide show and a photo album for the NCAA Nationals (2)

• Slide Show: NCAA Nationals (2)
• Photo Album: NCAA Nationals (2)

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

42 kb 01.Ashley Attacks bars like an Aim-9 missile

45 kb 02.Brittany's straddle-mount is deceptive by comparison

86 kb 03.But equally powerful in a routine that didn't miss this year

Alabama head gymnastics coach Sarah Patterson returned to the office this week after successful spinal surgery on April 20. The four-time National Coach of the Year had been increasing her work load over the past two weeks, working mostly from home as her strength returned.

Patterson led the Tide to a third place finish at the 2004 NCAA Championships, its 15th top-3 finish in the past 20 years. Two Alabama gymnasts won three individual NCAA titles - Jeana Rice taking the all-around and Ashley Miles winning the floor exercise and repeating as the vault championship.

Patterson's surgery came just two days after the team returned from the NCAA Championships in Los Angeles.

"It tops off this season and my career. I've been doing this since I was little and I finally feel I can step away from gymnastics because I've accomplished everything that I wanted to accomplish. I feel complete in this aspect of my life. I can move on without looking back." ¹

"With those words, in response to winning the prestigious Honda Award for Gymnastics ², Jeana Rice closed the book on one of the most illustrious careers in the history of college gymnastics. In her four years as a University of Alabama gymnast, Jeana contributed to an SEC and an NCAA team championship, earned numerous SEC and Regional individual event and all-around championships, prevailed as the 2004 NCAA individual all-around National Champion, and earned an NCAA record 18 All-American awards.

Nevertheless, Jeana's path to college gymnastics fame and glory was, at times, neither to too straight, nor too easy. From the very beginning, however, Jeana exhibited two traits that would carry her through all the trials - and the triumphs. First, she had that fierce determination, that never-say-die competitiveness that all the great athletes have. Secondly, it would be a dark road indeed that could not be illuminated by the brilliant light of Jeana's incredible talent. "

University of Alabama All-American gymnast Stephanie Kite was awarded an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship the association announced recently.

Kite, who holds a 4.0 grade point average in international marketing, is the 10th Crimson Tide gymnast to earn the award since 1983. Alabama's total leads all gymnastics programs by a large margin. Kite's honor comes one year after Tide All-American Kristin Sterner earned the scholarship, marking the third time Alabama has had back-to-back honorees.

"This is a great, and well deserved honor for Stephanie," assistant head coach David Patterson said. "Stephanie has certainly made the most of her student-athlete experience, excelling in all areas. We are very pleased to see her name added to the long list of Alabama gymnasts who have earned this prestigious honor."

For the fifth time since 1985, an Alabama athlete has earned the Honda Award for Gymnastics.

Senior Jeana Rice, who won the NCAA All-Around title at the recent national championships, earned the award that denotes the nation's top gymnast. The Longwood, Fla. native is now eligible for the Honda-Broderick Cup, given annually to the nation's top female student-athlete. Rice and 11 other sports winners, will gather in New York, NY June 21 when the Cup winner will be announced.

"It tops of this season and my career," Rice said. "I've been doing this since I was little and I finally feel I can step away from gymnastics because I've accomplished everything that I wanted to accomplish. I feel complete in this aspect of my life. I can move on without looking back."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Much of the following article was to have appeared in a 'weblog' during the week of the championship. However, due to circumstances beyond my control (but likely only because I don't know enough about computers!) I was unable to post on a daily basis while in Los Angeles. Better late than never, as they say, here is my Nationals diary:

Saturday, April 10, 2004:
Birmingham, Alabama: We started our quest for Los Angeles and the 2004 Gymnastics National Championships at the Birmingham Airport. As usual, we had carefully and economically packed for our trip by jamming full two huge rolling duffle bags and two right-a-the-size-limit carry-ons. The bag inspector groaned and grunted as he power-lifted the duffles onto the x-ray machine conveyor-belt. The Magic City's terminal had it's usual early morning light crowd. Our gymnastics buddies and traveling companions, Bob, Sara, and their boy, Bert, soon arrived on the scene. Although the weather was threatening a thunderstorm, only a light sprinkle showed up before our plane took off.

In the Air: The flight over was largely uneventful - just one crying baby ( but, Oiy!, what a crier - and right in front of us!). The cloud cover over Birmingham persisted, for the most part, from coast to coast, only breaking up for a short time over Arizona. And the famous "brown LA haze" was in full force over the City of the Angels when we arrived.

The Alabama Gymnastics team was honored at its annual season ending banquet Saturday (April 24) night at the Bryant Conference Center. The banquet is sponsored by the Crimson Tide's booster organization, The Medalist Club.

In addition to celebrating its third place finish at last week's NCAA Championships, senior Jeana Rice and sophomore Ashley Miles were named co-captains of the 2004 squad. Rice was also named "Most Valuable".

Rice won the postseason 'triple crown' by taking top honors in the all-around at the Southeastern Conference Championships, the NCAA West Region Championships and the NCAA Championships. She earned Alabama's fifth NCAA All-Around title. The Longwood, Fla. native also earned five All-American honors on the season, giving her an NCAA record 18 career accolades. Rice set an SEC Championship record in the all-around and tied the school record of 39.850.

This past weekend in Los Angeles, California, the Alabama Crimson Tide secured a third place showing at the NCAA National Championships. Senior Jeana Rice shocked the prognosticators by bringing home the coveted All Around Trophy, bypassing home town favorites Jeanette Antolin, Kristen Maloney and Kate Richardson. Sophomore Ashley Miles successfully defended her individual vault title and grabbed the floor exercise title as well along with sophomore Courtney Bumpers of North Carolina. All in all it was a successful campaign for a team that will return 18 of 24 routines in 2005 and welcome two international elites and a standout Level 10 performer into the fold. We'll take this opportunity to review the various contributions of Alabama's team members to the success of the 2004 season and what we can expect of them in 2005.

We've got a new slide show and a photo album for the NCAA Nationals (1)

• Slide Show: NCAA Nationals (1)
• Photo Album: NCAA Nationals (1)

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

96 kb 01. Former Elite Alexis adapts easily to the podium floor

91 kb 02. Ashley demos her floor in warmups

101 kb 03. From any angle Jeana has great style

NCAA All-Around Champion Jeana Rice has been named a finalist for the Honda Award for Gymnastics, given annually to the nation's top gymnast.

Rice is coming off a senior season second to none. In addition to winning the national all-around title, she also won her second consecutive Southeastern Conference All-Around Championship and her third NCAA Regional All-Around title in four years. The Longwood, Fla. native set the NCAA record for career All-American honors this past weekend when her five 2004 honors bumped her total to 18, bettering the previous mark held jointly by Alabama's Dee Foster and Kentucky's Jenny Hansen.

"Jeana has enjoyed a tremendous career," head coach Sarah Patterson said. "And she is obviously highly deserving of this recognition. She really took it to another level this year and that showed in her high level of competition from the season's first week through Saturday night."

The University of Alabama gymnastics Medalist club 2004 Awards Banquet will be Saturday, April 24th 2004 at 7:00 p.m. at the Bryant Conference Center-Sellers Auditorium-Tuscaloosa Alabama. All Medalist club membership will be contacted via phone from a Medalist club board member for reservations. For additional information contact Randy Howell at 556-2108

LOS ANGLES, CALIF - The best just got better. University of Alabama gymnastics sophomore Ashley Miles won her second consecutive NCAA Vault Championship and added a share of the NCAA Floor Exercise title here in Pauley Pavilion tonight.

Miles shares the floor title with UNC freshman Courtney Bumpers, with both women scoring a 9.9375. Miles' winning vault total, a 9.94375 was a tenth of a point better than her winning score from a year ago.

The San Antonio, Texas native becomes the first Alabama gymnast to repeat as national champion on an event since Dana Dobranksy (now the Tide's volunteer coach) went back-to-back on the balance beam in 1992 and 1993, her junior and senior season. She is the first Tide athlete to win two NCAA titles in a single season since Penny Hauschild won the floor exercise and all-around title in 1986.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The University of Alabama Gymnastics team tied the Stanford Cardinal for third place here at the NCAA Championships with a 197.125. The Crimson Tide was led by senior Jeana Rice's 39.65 in the all-around.

UCLA won its fifth NCAA Championship with a Super Six record of 198.125, breaking the 198.025 mark set by Alabama in 1996. Georgia took second with a 197.200 followed by Stanford in third with a 197.125. Florida was fifth at 196.800 and Utah finished sixth with a 195.875.

It was Alabama's third consecutive top-3 finish. In the last rotation, sophomore Ashley Miles scored a 9.950 on the floor exercise to lead Alabama to a 49.475. Rice scored a 9.925 and junior Alexis Brion posted a 9.9. Seniors Lauren Holdefer and Stephanie Kite both posted 9.85s.

• Advancing to tonight's NCAA Super Six Team Finals guarantees that Alabama will finish among the nation's top six for the 21st time in 22 NCAA Championships appearances.
  
  
• Alabama holds the NCAA Super Six scoring record of 198.025, which they posted in winning the 1996 NCAA Championship.
  
  
• Alabama has finished out of the NCAA Super Six Team Finals only once since the current format was introduced in 1993, giving the Crimson Tide 11 Super Six appearances and seven in a row. The Tide's lone Super Six miss came in 1997.
  
  
• Alabama has four NCAA titles, five runner-up finishes and 13 top-3 finishes.
  
  

LOS ANGELES, CALIF - It was the University of Alabama gymnastic team's last routine of the night and senior Jeana Rice's balance beam routine was doubly important here at Pauley Pavilion in the evening session of the NCAA Championships team preliminaries.

If Rice hit her routine, Alabama was guaranteed the second of three slots in tomorrow night's NCAA Super Six Team final and if she hit big, she would win the NCAA All-Around Championship.

She did both, scoring a session best 9.9 on the balance beam to advance the Tide with a 197.325 and score a 39.650 all-around total.

LOS ANGELES -- Practice time is all over for the 2004 Alabama Gymnastics team and all that is left now is the quest for NCAA Championshi