SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - For Alabama gymnast Terin Humphrey, the time had come to reclaim what was hers, and for freshman Morgan Dennis it was the start of something special.

Humphrey, the 2004 U.S. Olympic Silver Medalist and 2005 NCAA Champion on the uneven bars reclaimed her NCAA title here Saturday night at the Huntsman Center with a near-perfect 9.95. Dennis scored a on the floor exercise 9.9625 with the most electrifying routine of the night to win her first NCAA crown.

"I'm speechless," Humphrey said. "I'm just so excited. Especially with what happened this year, overcoming injuries and surgery and all that stuff, it's exciting. I was jumping up and down."

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - There will be two Alabama Gymnasts in the mix when the NCAA Individual Event National Championships are decided Saturday night here in the Huntsman Center.

Junior Terin Humphrey, the 2005 NCAA Uneven Bars Champion, will compete in the finals of the uneven bars and the balance beam. Freshman Morgan Dennis will compete in the finals of the floor exercise.

Humphrey was fourth last year on the balance beam. As a freshman she was first on the uneven bars and fifth on the beam. Alabama has won 19 individual NCAA titles since Penney Hauschild took home 1985 all-around and uneven bars titles.

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - For the first time since 1997, the Alabama Gymnastics team will not advance to Friday's Super Six team finals after finishing fifth in the preliminary session of today's NCAA Championships preliminaries.

"I am personally devastated," head coach Sarah Patterson said. "This only the second time that we have not advanced to the Super Six and only the second time in the 25 consecutive years that we've qualified for the NCAA Championships that we won't finish in the final six."

The Crimson Tide scored a 196.150, its lowest score since a Feb. 10 loss to Georgia in Athens. Georgia, 197.700, Florida, 197.400, and Nebraska, 196.625, advanced to tomorrow night's finals. Oklahoma, 196.250, finished fourth while Oklahoma State, 195.1, rounded out the afternoon session.

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - The travel that took them across the country is finished. So is the last practice of the season, on the floor of the Huntsman Center here on the University of Utah campus. Even the interviews with CBS and the local and national media that have gathered here to cover the 26th NCAA Gymnastics Championships are over, at least for the moment.

All that is left for the Alabama Crimson Tide is the competition and a shot at a fifth NCAA title.

"It's great to be at Utah and to compete in our 25th consecutive championship," Alabama head coach Sarah Patterson said. "Utah is a special place for Alabama; it's where we competed at our first championship and where we won our first NCAA Championship. To make it to 25 NCAA Championships in a row is something of which we're very proud. Only the University of Utah has a longer streak. I can tell you to be at the 25th championship is equally as gratifying as it was 25 years ago."

Bama's coaches have been navigating some rather rough waters over the past few weeks in terms of dealing with unexpected injuries to key performers on their #3 nationally-ranked Crimson Tide gymnastics team.  For example, sophomore Ashley O'Neal has required extra rest on the floor and balance beam in hopes of keeping her healthy for nationals, while freshman Kassi Price was held out of  the Central Regional Championship this past Saturday due to a tweaking of the knee during floor practice on Friday the 13th.  As a result, the coaches have had to dig into their storage bin for routines that could temporarily replace these gals and they received a pleasant surprise along the way.  Freshman Casey Overton handled lead-off duties on the balance beam like a pro (9.800) while sophomore Amanda Montgomery proved her mettle on uneven bars (9.700) and balance beam (9.775) Saturday night.  Meanwhile, sophomore Brittany Magee came through on floor (9.750) with her first competitive routine of the 2007 season.  Bama finished 1st (196.700) in convincing style despite the side-lining of two of their clutch performers, led by junior All American Terin Humphrey (All Around winner at 39.475), junior Kaitlin White  (hit 3 of 3 events) and freshmen Morgan Dennis (AA - 39.400) and Ricki Lebegern (AA - 39.375).  Onto the highlights....

"It was truly a Championship Weekend to remember and we are thrilled to be traveling to Salt Lake City, the site of our 1st NCAA Championship in 1988..." [ More...]

Thursday, April 26, 2007 [Session 1]
2:00 PM CST (1:00 PM MST)

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The University of Alabama Gymnastics team, advancing to its 25th consecutive NCAA Championships, was informed today that it will compete in the afternoon session of the preliminary day of competition held next week in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Alabama, the NCAA Central Region Champions, will see plenty of familiar faces in the very tough afternoon session that will get underway at Thursday, April 26 at 1 p.m. MT. Southeastern Conference foes Florida and Georgia, ranked first and second at the end of the regular season, will join the Tide, ranked No. 3 nationally.

Oklahoma, which Alabama saw to open the season and at last Saturday's Tuscaloosa- based regional will join the SEC trio. Nebraska, ranked sixth going into regionals, and Oregon State round out the afternoon session.

All National Championship tickets purchased through the Alabama ticket office will be handled by the Alabama Gymnastics staff at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Your tickets will NOT be mailed to you. (Since many of our fans are traveling out to Salt Lake City well before the event, the gymnastics office did not want to take the risk that Nationals tickets would be mailed to their homes after fans had left for Utah.) All tickets may be picked up from members of the Alabama gymnastics staff at the "Player Pass" gate, which is at the Southeast Entrance (Door 1) of the Huntsman Center.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Early this week, Alabama's All-American junior Terin Humphrey couldn't raise her arm above her head. Tonight, with a trip to the NCAA Championships on the line, she went in the all-around and helped Alabama to its 25th consecutive national championship berth.

The Crimson Tide scored a 196.700 to win its 22nd NCAA Regional title. There was a tie between Oklahoma University and Iowa State, which both scored 195.925. In collegiate gymnastics the top five of the six scores on each apparatus counts in the team's total. The NCAA tiebreaker is to add back in the sixth score on each event. Oklahoma edged out Iowa State to advance.

Michigan State finished fourth with a 194.800, followed by Ohio State in fifth place with a 194.650, and Kentucky in sixth place with a 194.025.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The practice day for the NCAA Central Region Championships is in the books and now all that is left is what promises to be the most electrifying competition of the season.

"There is nothing like regionals in terms of excitement and pressure," Alabama head coach Sarah Patterson said. "There are six teams that will be competing tomorrow night and they all have one dream - to move on to Salt Lake City and the NCAA Championships. With such a young team, we are excited to be competing at home in front of the best fans in the world."

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The No. 3 ranked Alabama gymnastics team found out who will join them in Tuscaloosa next week for the NCAA Central Region Championships and a chance to earn a spot at the NCAA Championships.

The Crimson Tide will welcome No. 10 Oklahoma, No. 15 Iowa State, No. 19 Michigan State, No. 21 Ohio State and No. 26 Kentucky to Tuscaloosa for the April 14 Central Regional Championships starting at 6 p.m.

"We're excited to be hosting this championship event and now we look forward to doing our job and advancing on to the NCAA Championships," Alabama head coach Sarah Patterson said. "Everything we do from this point on will be geared toward qualifying for our 25th consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships. I think that would be a tremendous accomplishment and honor."

The Alabama Crimson Tide Gymnastics Team traveled to Little Rock, Arkansas, this past weekend to contend against three of the most talented teams in the country for Southeastern Conference glory. Despite a solid effort on all four events that saw the team endure three byes between each of their first three events, Alabama was still unable to capitalize on several golden opportunities to push their performances up to the level required to knock off the only two teams that had defeated them so far in the 2007 season (Florida and Georgia).  So the GymTide had to settle for a respectable 3rd Place showing that was still within .175 of the Bulldogs and .325 of the Gators. Coach Patterson was happy to see her young team close the gap but realizes that much improvement is still needed in the area of mental toughness if the Crimson Tide is to seriously contend for their fifth national title in Salt Lake City, Utah.  The first challenge comes in two weeks at the Central Regional Championship hosted by the Tide in Tuscaloosa. Bama must be one of the two highest-scoring teams on the night of April 14, 2007, to get the nod for their 25th straight NCAA appearance. Only Utah has more NCAA appearances at 26.  For now, let's review some of the highlights from the SEC match.

We have a Photo album (and a slide show) for the 2007 Midseason Meets (Georgia, Arkansas and Kentucky).

• Photo Album: 2007 Midseason Meets (Georgia, Arkansas and Kentucky)
• Slide Show: 2007 Midseason Meets (Georgia, Arkansas and Kentucky)

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

512212 bytes 001 Kassi Price starts the midseason SS on beam vs KY

568142 bytes 002 Ashley ONeal leads off Bama bm at UGA

477549 bytes 003 Cassie Martin flies thru a Tkachev

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- After nearly 30 years as head coach of the national powerhouse Alabama gymnastics team, it takes quite a bit to impress Sarah Patterson, but the selfless and giving actions of Crimson Tide fan Courtney Walker certainly did the trick.

Patterson received a letter from Walker in which the Pickens Academy fourth grader enclosed a copy of a picture of she and Patterson together and a note about her plans for a the bicycle that she had won at the same meet at which the picture was taken.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - University of Alabama gymnastics sophomore Courtney Priess has been named to the 2007 Southeastern Conference Community Service Team.

"We're obviously very proud of Courtney," head coach Sarah Patterson said. "Our program has always been about excelling in the gym, the classroom and the world outside of both. Courtney has been a tremendous ambassador for our program in the area of community service; always willing to lend a helping hand to those around her."

The conference sponsors a Community Service Team for each its 20 sports. The Gymnastics Community Service Team represents seven SEC gymnasts, one from each competing institution. The Community Service Team highlights athletes from each school who give back to their community in superior service efforts.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The No. 3 ranked Alabama gymnastics team found out who will join them in Tuscaloosa next week for the NCAA Central Region Championships and a chance to earn a spot at the NCAA Championships.

The Crimson Tide will welcome No. 10 Oklahoma, No. 15 Iowa State, No. 19 Michigan State, No. 21 Ohio State and No. 26 Kentucky to Tuscaloosa for the April 14 Central Regional Championships starting at 6 p.m.

"We're excited to be hosting this championship event and now we look forward to doing our job and advancing on to the NCAA Championships," Alabama head coach Sarah Patterson said. "Everything we do from this point on will be geared toward qualifying for our 25th consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships. I think that would be a tremendous accomplishment and honor."