Alabama senior Ashley Miles, the 2006 NCAA Vault Champion, is one of four finalists for this year's Honda Award for Gymnastics.

Miles is up against UCLA's Kate Richardson, Utah's Ashley Postell and Georgia's Courtney Kupets for the award which denotes the nation's top gymnast.

"Wow, that's really cool," Miles said. "I'm honored to be considered for such a prestigious award and to represent the University of Alabama in this way."

Corvallis, Ore - And then she had four.

Alabama senior Ashley Miles won the fourth individual NCAA Gymnastics Championship of her career here tonight, dominating the field with two massive vaults. It marks her third NCAA vault title, adding to the titles she won in 2003 and '04. She also won the floor exercise title in 2004.

She is only the second gymnast in NCAA history, and first in over 20 years, to win three national vault titles in a career, joining Utah's Elaine Alfano, who won the titles in 1982, '83 and '85. Miles is sixth gymnast in NCAA history to win the same event three times in a career.

Corvallis, Ore - The Alabama Gymnastics team finished third at the NCAA Championships with a 196.725 here in Gill Coliseum, marking its 17th top-3 national finish.

Georgia won its second championship in a row with a 197.75, followed by Utah's 196.800. Alabama finished just .075 behind the Utes despite counting a fall on its last event, the balance beam. Florida finished fourth with a 196.275, followed by Nebraska at 196.175. Iowa State finished sixth with a 194.725.

Alabama went into the last rotation just .025 behind Georgia, but even before the Tide's falls, the Dogs 49.65 on the vault put the championship out of reach.

Corvallis, Ore. - While there were a few anxious moments, Alabama handled the pressure of the NCAA Gymnastics Championships first day and advanced to tomorrow night's Super Six Team Finals.

The Crimson Tide scored a 196.25 to advance along with Nebraska, 196.325, and Utah, 196.175. Those three schools await the top three finishers from the evening session, which consists of Georgia, Florida, Arkansas, Oregon State, Iowa State and Arizona State.

"Being at the national championship and advancing to the Super Six is just a highlight of the year," Alabama head coach Sarah Patterson said after the first session. "You never take it for granted. You look at the teams one through six, and these are the teams that had the best meets, not necessarily perfect, but didn't count a fall and you have to perform like that to move on."

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Practice time is over. After working out on the equipment here in Gill Coliseum for about 90 minutes, the next thing on the Alabama Gymnastics team's schedule is day one of the NCAA Championships.

"Today was all about adjusting the equipment, getting a feel for it," Alabama head coach Sarah Patterson said. "We did a good job of that, and staying loose and having fun. We're ready to go at this point, we're ready for tomorrow."

The Crimson Tide arrived in Oregon late Monday night, capping a day that included morning classes and full practice, the last Tuscaloosa-based one of the year. After landing in Portland, Alabama bused the hour and a half to Corvallis and then spent Tuesday making the adjustment to the Pacific time zone, stretching and studying.

We have a brand new Photo album (and a slide show) for the 2006 SEC Championship.

• Photo Album: 2006 SEC Championship
• Slide Show: 2006 SEC Championship

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

239822 bytes 01 Dana F sprints to a vault wu

254540 bytes 02 and Cassie taps the table also

227740 bytes 03 Brittany needles her vault

The Alabama Crimson Tide Gymnastics Team notched a decisive West Regional championship victory over the home-standing Stanford Cardinal (3rd Place) and the Oregon State Beavers (2nd) at Palo Alto last weekend. In the process they secured their 24th straight NCAA National Championship appearance, second in the nation only to the Utah Utes. We'll briefly review some of the Tide's highlights on each rotation and talk about what performances they will need on these same events at Nationals to ensure a trip to Super Six night in Corvallis

Just a 'heads-up' for fans traveling to Corvallis for the National Finals; be sure to bring along your portable FM radios. The Medalist Club and WVUA radio are teaming up to attempt a little 'radio magic' by having Chad Anderson's and Leesa Davis' insightful and informative radio broadcast available to you inside Gill Coliseum at Oregon State. Now, this is a first for us, so please bear with us if there are a few 'growing pains' as we get this service off the ground. Additional details will be available here in a few days. In the meantime, pass the word - and don't forget those radios!

INDIANAPOLIS - The NCAA announced today the teams and individuals who qualified to compete for the 2006 National Collegiate Women's Gymnastics Championships.

The championships, hosted by Oregon State University will be held in Corvallis, Oregon, at the Gill Coliseum, April 20 - 22.

The National Collegiate Women's Gymnastics Championships consist of 12 teams and 12 all- around competitors (who are not on a qualifying team) and event specialists. The top two teams and the top two all-around competitors from each regional received automatic berths to the national championships. In addition, the event winners at the regional championships advance to the national championships (in their specific event) if they were not part of a qualifying team or the all-around qualifiers.

We have complete audio coverage for the 2006 NCAA West Regional Championships

• Complete Radio Broadcasts of the 2006 Meets.

PALO ALTO, Calif. - Sarah Patterson told her squad all season long that the big meets came down to the balance beam, and tonight's NCAA West Regional Championship, held on the Stanford campus proved her right.

Alabama was in a tight battle all night long, before coming up big on the beam in its last rotation, scoring a season and meet best 49.35 paced by a 9.9 from Terin Humphrey and 9.875s from junior Erin Rightly and freshman Melanie Banville to advance to its 24th consecutive NCAA Championship. Senior Mari Bayer and freshman Brittany Magee both added a 9.85s. It was a career best for Banville, Rightley and Magee and a season best for Humphrey and Bayer.

Alabama won the regional with a 196.475, followed by Oregon State, the host of the NCAA Championships April 20-22, with a 195.800. Stanford, the early favorite to advance, had a disastrous balance beam rotation and finished third with a 195.275. San Jose State was fourth with a 192.375, Sacramento State followed in fifth with a 192.050 while Boise State brought up the rear with a 189.850.

We have a brand new Photo album (and a slide show) for Senior Night.

• Photo Album: 2006 Senior Night
• Slide Show: 2006 Senior Night

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

123977 bytes 001 Ashley M bars sequence-Shapshnikova

266695 bytes 002 great height mid Hindorff

314322 bytes 003 dropping to regrasp

The Alabama Gymnastics Team finished three-tenths behind the Georgia Gymdawgs in another terrific SEC conference championship showdown this past Saturday Night at the Birmingham BJCC, claiming 2nd place honors with their highest team score of the season, 196.975. Bama finished seven-tenths ahead of the Florida Gators and 1.075 ahead of the LSU Tigers, who finished 3rd and 4th respectively. The Tide was thrilled with their rock-solid performances on 3 of 4 events but not satisfied with the final outcome. It now comes down to a tough West Regional showdown against the Stanford Cardinal (8th nationally) and the Oregon State Beavers (16th) on April 8th to ensure a 25th straight NCAA Nationals berth. Bama must be one of the top two scoring teams out of this regional to advance. All indications are strong that the Tide is starting to peak at the right time. But for now, let's review some of the highlights from this past weekend.