The Alabama Crimson Tide and the Auburn Tigers duked it out again in Coleman Coliseum this past Friday Night before a sell-out crowd of 15, 076. It was a record-setting performance for the Tide as a team this year (197.475) and the program's highest score since 2004. Along the way, Bama saw three outstanding all-around performances from freshmen Kassi Price (39.575) and Morgan Dennis (39.525), along with junior Terin Humphrey (39.550). Career marks were set also by Tide sophomore Cassie Martin on the uneven bars (9.925) and junior Kaitlin White on the bars (9.875) and floor exercise (9.825). The coaches were particularly pleased to see how well the entire team responded in practice following the loss at Florida and the results showed clearly on the balance beam this week, as the Tide hit a 49.100 team score. Indeed, impressive confidence was displayed by first-time balance beam competitor Morgan Dennis (9.750), who was up next after sophomore teammate Ashley O'Neal encountered problems during her preceding routine (9.625). Dennis threw difficult skills under pressure yet kept the Tide rolling on this event, setting up Price and Humphrey beautifully to close out with equally solid routines. This is exactly how the coaches hoped the team would respond in the meet and it looks like the lessons learned in Gainesville are already paying dividends. Here are more highlights to share...

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama freshman Kassi Price, winner of her first three all- around competitions, has been named Southeastern Conference Gymnast of the Week.

Price won her third consecutive all-around last Friday against Auburn with a 39.575, leading Alabama to a nation's best 197.475 team score. Price scored a 9.925 on the vault, uneven bars and floor exercise against the Tigers.

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama Gymnastics coach Sarah Patterson has said all along that the Crimson Tide would be dependent on its freshman class to be successful this season, but even she may not have foreseen how successful those rookies would be right out of the gate.

Freshmen Morgan Dennis and Kassi Price are currently first and second respectively in both the all-around and floor exercise rankings. This week marks Dennis' second in the No. 1 slot on the floor exercise. She is also No. 8 on the vault while Price, who was No. 1 in the all-around a week ago, is ninth on the uneven bars, 11th on the vault and 23rd on the balance beam.

Junior Terin Humphrey, No. 3 nationally on the uneven bars, is also ranked in the all-around, coming in at No. 17. Junior Erin Rightley is ranked No. 17 and freshman Ricki Lebegern is No. 18 on the floor exercise.

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Awash in a sea of pink, the Alabama Gymnastics team found its form, posting a 197.475, the nation's top score to date, bettering Auburn's 195.900 here in Coleman Coliseum. It was Alabama's best score of the season by a point and a half.

It was Alabama's third annual "Power of Pink" meet, with both teams, and most of the sellout crowd of 15,075 dressed in pink, supporting breast cancer awareness. The Tide's crowd was the second largest in school history after last season's standing-room-only total of 15,162. It was Alabama's best team score since the 2004 season.

Freshman Kassi Price won her third consecutive all-around, scoring a career best 39.575 followed closely by junior Terin Humphrey's 39.55 and Morgan Dennis' 39.525. Dennis won the vault and the floor exercise. Sophomore Cassie Martin and Price tied for top honors on the uneven bars while Auburn's AJ Mills won the balance beam with a 9.9.

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

• Chalk talk

The Alabama Crimson Tide lost a heartbreaker to the Florida Gators in Gainesville this past Friday Night. Leading after each of the first three rotations, Bama had the meet under control until the fourth routine on their final event, balance beam.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. - For three rotations here in the O'Connell Center, the No. 4 Alabama Gymnastics team, on the road for the first time this season, gave the No. 1 ranked Florida Gators all they could handle leading by more than a quarter of a point.

In the end though, a hot streak of floor exercise routines by the Gators and a trio of falls by the Tide on the balance beam gave Florida a 196.825-195.65 victory in front of a crowd of 6,074.

"We had 21 awesome routines and then we had a freshman error by Ricki Lebegern," Alabama head coach Sarah Patterson said. "I think the biggest disappoint of the evening is that a junior and senior, Terin Humphrey and Erin Rightley didn't finish things off for us."

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The challenges don't get any easier in week two of the season for the No. 4 ranked Alabama Gymnastics team.

A week after posting a come-from behind win over Oklahoma to open the season in the friendly confines of Coleman Coliseum, Alabama takes to the road to take on the No. 1 ranked Florida Gators.

"When I was voting on the preseason coaches poll, I had Georgia one and Florida two," Alabama head coach Sarah Patterson said. "And this week Florida's No. 1 and Georgia second. Florida had been building toward this since hiring Rhonda Faehn four years ago. They are a strong veteran team and I think it's going to be a very good meet."

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The Sarah Patterson Show, now in its eighth season, begins this week. Locally, the show airs on CSS each Friday at 2:30 p.m. during the season. Those outside the Alabama viewing area should check their local listings. Hosted by Tom Roberts and Alabama Gymnastics head coach Sarah Patterson, the show details the Crimson Tide's 2007 season. This week's show features a recap of Alabama's season opening win against Oklahoma and an interview with freshman Kassi Price.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama Gymnastics team is No. 4 in the first national rankings of the 2007 season and will face No. 1 ranked Florida on Friday in Gainesville, Fla.

The rankings are determined by season average through the first six weeks of the season. The Crimson Tide was also No. 4 in the preseason coaches' poll. Alabama is No. 1 on the floor exercise after posting a 49.45 in its opening meet against Oklahoma and third on both the balance beam and vault.

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Alabama entered the 2007 gymnastics season Friday night against the Oklahoma Sooners not knowing how the freshmen would respond to the frenzy and expectation that is Crimson Tide Gymnastics. Would they let the butterflies and nerves get to them from the opening introduction in front of 12,000 fans or would they embrace the crowd's boisterous welcome and use this to fuel them through the next 90 minutes? The results indicate that this freshman group is not afraid of any crowd or any challenge, as they helped pace the team to victory with a final score of 195.70 to the Sooners' 194.500, despite a couple of early setbacks on the uneven bars. Let's review some of the highlights:

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama Gymnastics head coach Sarah Patterson said in the weeks leading up the Crimson Tide's first meet of the 2007 season that the Crimson Tide would be young and it would make mistakes, but she also said it would be very exciting.

In its meet against Oklahoma tonight she was proved right on all accounts. The Tide, getting 17 of its 24 routines from its freshmen and sophomores, overcame a pair of falls on the uneven bars to beat the Sooners 195.7-194.5 in front of 11,996 fans here in Coleman Coliseum.

"There were a lot of firsts that happened tonight," Patterson said, "a lot of things you can take and certainly use as a positive. That is what we are going to do. I'm just proud that our team, after a couple of shaky routines, some bad routines on the uneven bars, held their composure. We had a choice ... either fold at that point, when you know you are down and behind ... or you can go out and tackle the balance beam and do a great job."

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The Crimson Tide went through several intrasquads over the past week and we now have a pretty good overview of who will be on each event for the opening meet against the Oklahoma Sooners this Friday, January 12th, at 7:30 pm in Coleman Coliseum.

The Tide is ready to showcase some terrific skills on all four events this Friday night but like Coach Patterson has stated, there possibly will be some bumps along the way because as many as 13-14 routines are slated to be thrown by the freshmen and another 3-5 by the sophomore class. The results of the intrasquad from this past Saturday indicate the following line-ups are likely for the opening meet:

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TUSCALOOSA, ALA - A very young Alabama Gymnastics team, ranked No. 4 nationally in the preseason coaches' poll, takes on No. 10 Oklahoma this Friday in Coleman Coliseum to start out the 2007 season.

"We have one senior and two juniors among our 15 gymnasts," Sarah Patterson, in her 29th season as Alabama's head coach, said. "This is the youngest team we've had in quite a while, since the very early days, but I think everyone will discover very quickly that we'll be exciting to watch."

Alabama opens the season at home for the third time since 2000. It also marks the first time since 1999 that the Crimson Tide has opened the season with in a dual meet after competing in the Super Six Challenge for the past seven openers, winning four.

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The Alabama Crimson Tide returned to the Capstone on December 26th and back to the gym on the 27th for full practices in preparation for the Oklahoma Sooners, who will be in town to open the season against Bama on January 12, 2007.

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