TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - This Saturday, for the fifth time since 2001, Alabama Gymnastics assistant head coach David Patterson will meet some friends at the Tuscaloosa IHoP on Skyland Blvd. where they will get on their bikes and take off into the early morning heat that is Alabama in May.

More than 150 miles later, they will climb off their bikes at their destination, Camp Smile-a-Mile, which is located on the shores of Lake Martin at Children's Harbor.

These cyclists, which come from all over the state of Alabama and all over the country, are part of a unique fundraiser called The Ride of Love, which was started in 2001 by Stephanie Wilkins, a counselor and board member at Camp Smile-A-Mile. In 2002 Patterson, himself a cancer survivor, joined Wilkins for the ride and the duo have been 'on the road' ever since helping grow the Ride and its impact.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Sarah Patterson couldn't accept the 2007 E. Roger Sayers Distinguished Service Award in person when it was announced at the end of April because she was in Salt Lake City, Utah leading the Alabama Gymnastics team to its 25th consecutive NCAA Championship appearance and 25th consecutive top-10 finish.

So at the recent end of the year reception held for the Crimson Tide by the Medalist Club, Dr. Malcolm Portera, chancellor of the University of Alabama system, presented her with the award.

For Patterson, being named the Sayers Award is special for many reasons.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama Gymnastics team celebrated its 2007 season with a year-end reception hosted by The Medalist Club.

At the reception, held at the Bryant Conference Center, the Crimson Tide was recognized for earning its 25th consecutive NCAA Championship appearance, its 25th consecutive top-10 finish as well as its two individual NCAA crowns among many other achievements.

And in a special presentation, head coach Sarah Patterson was honored with the E. Roger Sayers Distinguished Service Award by University of Alabama Systems Chancellor Malcolm Portera. Patterson could not be on hand when the award was initially announced last week. She and the Crimson Tide were in Salt Lake City, Utah at the national championships at the time.

Don't Forget the MEDALIST CLUB AWARDS RECEPTION to be held on Friday night at 7 P.M. in the Sellers Auditorium of the Bryant Conference Center. If you haven't been contacted by someone and intend to attend, please RSVP to pooh'AT'gymtide.com.

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."

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The University of Alabama Gymnastics team put together a great 197.000 score here at the Southeastern Conference Championships, led by an outstanding 39.5 all-around performance by freshman Morgan Dennis.

In a conference where the nation's top four teams reside, that score was good for third place behind No. 1 ranked Florida 's 197.325 and No. 2 Georgia's 197.175. The Gators crown marks the first time since 1989 that a team besides Alabama or the Dogs has won the SEC title.

"I thought we preformed exceptionally well tonight," Alabama head coach Sarah Patterson said. "We were a good team but we weren't perfect, and when you compete against the top two teams in the country you have to be perfect to win."

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The Alabama Gymnastics teams one weekend off from competition this season came at a good time, giving the Crimson Tide a break between its regular season finale and the Southeastern Conference Championships this Saturday, and head coach Sarah Patterson and her charges put it to good use.

"With such a young team, we have a number of young ladies that have never been through a meet like this," Patterson said. "So we used the week off to prepare them for all that goes on at a collegiate championship meet."

That meant warming up in exactly the time allotted at the championships, picking their starting event out of a hat as well as inserting 'byes' into practice.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The Alabama Gymnastics team discovered they will start the 2007 Southeastern Conference Championships on a bye before starting competition on the floor exercise after the draw at the event's press luncheon here at the Alltel Arena.

After starting on a bye and then moving to the floor exercise, Alabama will move to another bye, then vault followed by the third bye before finishing off the night on the uneven bars and balance beam.

The team will practice later this afternoon and the competition is Saturday starting at 6 p.m. CT. The Crimson Tide's radio broadcast of the championships will be on WVUA 90.7-FM in Tuscaloosa and can be heard online at www.thecapstone.ua.edu. A link to live scores can be found on www.gymtide.com and the meet will be televised on a tape delayed basis on Fox Sports South Saturday, April 7 at 6 p.m. CT.

Your Medalist Club Parking Passes will be honored for preferred parking at the NCAA Regionals to be held at Coleman Coliseum on April 14th. If you did not purchase a parking pass at the beginning of the season, a limited number of passes are available for $5/ea, until they're all sold. These passes are only valid for this last meet of the season. If you'd like to purchase a parking pass, send an e-mail to pooh at gymtide.com and a board member will contact you to complete the transaction.

The Alabama Crimson Tide (197.375) and the Auburn Tigers (195.250) duked it out again in Beard-Eaves Coliseum this past Friday Night on the Plains of Auburn University before a nice crowd of approximately 5000, which included a large contingent of travelling Tide fans.  Bama posted their second highest team score of the season and not only improved their RQS but also solidified their 3rd Place national ranking, just behind Florida (#1) and Georgia (#2). Freshman Morgan Dennis (39.525), junior Terin Humphrey (39.500) and freshman Ricki Lebegern (39.475) continued to flex their muscle in the all-around while sophomore Brittany Magee scored big once again on the balance beam (9.90) for the second week in a row, tying Humphrey for top honors on this event.  Sophomores Cassie Martin (9.85 on bars) and Ashley O'Neal (9.85 on balance beam) and junior Kaitlin White (9.85 on vault) also helped pace the team to victory with strong performances of their own.  Let's head to more of the highlights

AUBURN, Ala. - The Alabama Gymnastics team came into tonight's meet at Auburn looking for a good road score to solidify its national ranking and came away with its second highest score of the season, beating the Tigers 197.375-195.250.

It was the last meet of the regular season for Alabama and gave the Tide its second highest score of the season and fifth mark of 197 or better this season. It was also Alabama's third 197 score in a row.

"Our ladies did exactly what we asked them to do tonight," Alabama head coach Sarah Patterson said. "We told them that we wanted to go into the postseason on a high note, knowing that we were peaking. We were a little sluggish and started a little slow, and have been working through some illness, but I thought overall they responded to our challenge and did exactly what we asked them to do."

The Alabama Crimson Tide (197.225) went 23 of 24 routines to defeat the UCLA Bruins(196.475) in Coleman Coliseum on Friday March 9, 2007, closing out the home regular season meets.   Bama saw the successful return of freshman Kassi Price to the all around while junior Terin Humphrey took a break on three events to recover from a touch of the flu. Senior Erin Rightley completed a strong exhibition on the balance beam, indicating that she is ready to return to the line-up on this event if the coaches tap her.  The Tide moved up to a #3 ranking in the nation and remain #1 in the Central Region. Without further ado...[ More...]

We have a Photo album (and a slide show) for the 2007 TideTykes and Teens Jamboree.

• Photo Album: 2007 TideTykes and Teens Jamboree
• Slide Show: 2007 TideTykes and Teens Jamboree

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

163880 bytes 01 Cassie Martin preps Kinley for Tide Tykes

155750 bytes 02 Courtney Priess keeps step

162671 bytes 03 after some initial confusion

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - It was a night for the young and old alike to take a bow as the Alabama Gymnastics team used a big night on all four events to beat the UCLA Bruins 197.225-196.475.

The evening started off with a heartfelt tribute to the Crimson Tide's lone senior Erin Rightley and finished off with a huge, highflying, raise the roof 9.95 routine from rookie Morgan Dennis on the floor exercise that had everyone of the 10,045 fans in attendance roaring to their feet.

In between, Alabama scored 49-plus on all four apparatus, including better than 49.3 on the vault, balance beam and floor exercise.

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

• A Night to Remember......

The Alabama Crimson Tide (197.250) went 24 of 24 routines to defeat the LSU Bengal Tigers (196.875) in Coleman Coliseum last Friday, starting off with an explosive vault performance, led by freshman Ricki Lebegern's 9.925 and Morgan Dennis' 9.90.  Three other gymnasts went 9.875 (Brittany Magee, Ashley O'Neal and Terin Humphrey) on this event. The Tide ran into some stingy judging on the uneven bars despite several superior routines, including a 9.825 effort from an ailing Kassi Price and a 9.90 from Humphrey who continues to wow the fans with her Khorkina and hop full elements .  Bama also went 6 for 6 on the balance beam (8 for 8 counting two exhibitions by Erin Rightley and Amanda Montgomery) and closed out with another winning effort on the floor exercise.  The Tide retained their #4 ranking in the nation and #1 in the Central Region.[ More...]

Over the past couple of weeks, we have been setting up our brand spanking new board... just for you! And now it's ready!

But don't panic. We are not closing the current message board yet. We are going to run both boards for a while giving folks a chance to get used to the idea and also to give us a chance to work out any bugs and errors!

As an introduction, here is an explaination some of the What, Why, When, Where, How of the new Message Board:

• A Quick Introduction to the New GymTide.com Message Board

"With the GymTide struggling at times this season with 'finishing' meets, Friday night's 197.250-196.875 victory over the LSU Tigers turned out to be just what the doctor ordered: a big win under pressure."

"Also of significance for Bama's post-season aspirations was freshman Morgan Dennis' tie for first place in the individual all-around competition. In so doing, Morgan became the fourth Tide gymnast to win an all-around this season (the others being Terin Humphrey, Kassi Price, and Ricki Lebegern). Without consulting the record books, I feel fairly confident in saying that having as many as four, different all-around winners in a season is a rare occurrence for Alabama Gymnastics, at least over the last few years."

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama Gymnastics team posted its third 197 or better score of the season on the way to beating LSU 197.250-196.925 in front of 10,113 fans here tonight in Coleman Coliseum.

"I'm just pleased that we are moving forward in a lot of different areas," Alabama head coach Sarah Patterson. "It's exciting to see us do so well and be able to win and know there were a lot of different areas that we can be better on. We were better on vaulting tonight and we were better on balance beam. We weren't our best on the floor exercise, we can be better there. Hopefully this week in practice we can use that to help us move forward a little bit. I don't expect us to be perfect until the end. That's what you want to do. You want to build to the end."

It was a night of season and career highs for both teams. Alabama posted its best vault score of the season and second best balance beam score. LSU posted its season best scores on three of the four apparatus. Freshman Morgan Dennis won the all- around with a 39.500 while junior Terin Humphrey was third with a 39.475 and freshman Ricki Lebegern was fourth with a career high 39.450. Lebegern has been 39.350 or higher in the all-around each of the last four meets.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - After stepping out of conference last weekend, the No. 4 ranked Alabama Gymnastics team steps back in against Southeastern Conference rival LSU Friday night in Coleman Coliseum.

"It will be another great, hard-fought meet, yet another Friday night in the SEC where the meet will still be in limbo through the last rotation," Alabama head coach Sarah Patterson said. "LSU is one of our longest standing rivals and I know that it's going to come down to our last two competitors on the floor exercise and their last two on beam for the win."

The Tigers are ranked No. 8 in the latest national rankings and took No. 1 ranked Florida down to the wire last weekend before falling by a mere fraction of a point. Alabama faced UNC-Chapel Hill last Friday, easily bettering their ACC foe.

The Alabama Crimson Tide grabbed control from the opening two events and never relinquished its lead over the baby blue of North Carolina despite having to count a fall on the balance beam (Brittany Magee 9.275) in the final team total.  The Tide went 22 of 24 routines for the night, including three routines of 9.90 or higher on the uneven bars (Cassie Martin, Terin Humphrey and Kassi Price), two on the floor exercise (Humphrey and Morgan Dennis) and one on vault (Humphrey). Junior Terin Humphrey won the all-around with a career high of 39.575 with freshman Ricki Lebegern coming in for the third consecutive week at 39.350.. Simply too much great gymnastics for a poor soul to handle!   To the highlights we go...[ More...]

FUN! FUN! FUN!
GymTide fans, make your plans to attend the Perfect-10 Grand Gala Drawdown on Saturday, March 10th at 7:00 p.m. Your $100 ticket entitles you and up to 3 guests to a great night of fun, food, and fellowship; raises money for the Postgraduate Scholarship Fund; and provides the holder of the winning ticket a grand prize of $10,000!

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama Gymnastics team is among the nation's top-5 for the seventh week in a row, standing once again at No. 4 this week.

Florida is still No. 1, with a solid lead over No. 2 Georgia. Stanford is third while Utah rounds out the top-5. UCLA, Alabama's final regular season home opponent is at No. 6, just hundredths of a point behind Utah while LSU, coming off a season high 197.050 against the Gators last weekend, checks in at No. 8.

As a team, the Crimson Tide is third on the vault and floor exercise, fifth on the uneven bars and 16th on the balance beam.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama Gymnastic team used a highflying uneven bars rotation and a career night from junior Terin Humphrey to come away with a 196.650-194.800 victory over the Tar Heels of North Carolina in front of 9,934 fans here in Coleman Coliseum.

Junior Terin Humphrey tied her career best to win the all-around with a 39.575, followed by freshman Ricki Lebegern, who scored her third consecutive 39.350 to take second.

Humphrey also posted the highest score of the night on the vault with a 9.900 and the floor exercise where she and freshman Morgan Dennis tied at 9.925.

In a continuing effort to make Alabama Gymnastics meets as fan friendly as possible, the Brunos Event Team has put together extensive information on parking and traffic flow to and from the event. For complete details on your meet day experience, go to www.uagameday.com.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - After back-to-back weekends on the road, the No. 4 ranked Alabama Gymnastics team returns to Coleman Coliseum Friday, Feb. 23 to face the Tar Heels of North Carolina.

"I know that after two weeks on the road, our ladies are excited to be back home competing in front of the best fans in the nation."

Not only are Alabama Gymnastics fans the best in Patterson's estimation, they are also the most numerous. After three home meets this season, the Crimson Tide leads the nation in attendance, with 12,537 fans per meet, the best average by more than a 1,000 per meet. Alabama is also riding a streak of nine regular season home meets in a row where the attendance was over 10,000.

The Alabama Crimson Tide resumed their winning ways this week against SEC foe Arkansas in Fayetteville at Barnhill Arena. Following the disappointing finish at UGA last week on the beam, Bama's coaches put the team through another relentless week of practice with special emphasis on this event and the results were impressive during both the 15 minutewarm-up period and the competition itself. Bama established a team high on beam for the 2007 season at 49.350, which started off with sophomore Ashley O'Neal's 9.875 lead-off performance and ended with freshman Kassi Price's anchor performance, also at 9.875. Even sophomore Amanda Montgomery exhibited successfully on the beam with a solid 9.800, making it a 7 for 7 night for the GymTide on this event against Arkansas. The GymTide scored 197.00 to the Razorbacks' 194.175. Here are more of the highlights....[ More...]

The Tide Tykes & Teens JAMBOREE is this Sunday, Feb 25^th. Please note that we are meeting in a new location this year. All the details are on the Tide Tykes & Teens web site.

We still have room for more kids to join us. If you missed the membership on the web, come see us before or after the gymnastics meet this Friday night, Feb 23^rd. We will have membership forms to sign you up. Remember, the cost is $20 per child.

And don't forget to thank our sponsors, Pat's Florist and Dr Bill Colburn, DMD. Their support makes this program possible and fun for all every year.

The Alabama Crimson Tide hit another icy skid at the 21 routine mark on the road, this time against the defending national champions, the Georgia Bulldogs.  As a team, Bama was heading towards a high road score until the last three routines on beam from freshmen Dennis and Price and junior Humphrey went to that gremlin that apparently is riding along with them to meets on the road this year.  The Tide fell to fifth in the polls and will need a strong road score at Arkansas this next week in order to regain their position, as RQS scoring goes into play soon.   Look for the Tide to rebound and wrestle that beam gremlin off the plane before take-off.  Here are some of the highlights from the meet in Athens... [ More...]

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama Gymnastics team is ranked fourth in the latest national rankings and remains the NCAA's top ranked floor exercise team.

After being determined by overall average for the first month and a half of the season, the national gymnastics rankings moved to the regional qualifying score starting this week, which is determined by a mixture of home and road scores.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Paced by an outstanding balance beam rotation, the Alabama Gymnastics team posted its highest road score of the season here in Barnhill Arena, beating the homestanding Arkansas Lady Razorbacks 197.000-194.175.

The Tide's strong beam performance came just a week after the Tide finished had three consecutive falls to finish off a road meet for the second time this season.

"To go to balance beam and have that kind of rotation was outstanding," Alabama head coach Sarah Patterson said. "I was very proud of the progress we've made. I don't think the average fan would have noticed, but some of our ladies were working very hard on their balance beam routines. They weren't dead on, but they worked through it and the result was our best score of the season on that event and getting that particular monkey off our back. I think we can take this and have confidence as we move forward. We know what we can do now."

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The No. 5 ranked Alabama Gymnastics team, after competing at home in three of its first four meets this season, is headed to its second road contest in a row this Friday, traveling to Fayetteville, Ark. where they will face No. 15 Arkansas.

The meet, held in Barnhill Arena, gets underway at 7 p.m. It will be the Crimson Tide's third trip to Fayetteville to face the LadyBacks, which added Gymnastics just five years ago. Coached by Mark and Renee Cook, the LadyBacks made it to the NCAA Championships for the first time last season, a remarkable feat for such a young program.

Coming off its dual meet at Georgia last weekend, Alabama is looking to rebound from its second three-fall balance beam performance of the season.

We have a Photo album (and a slide show) for the 2007 Auburn meet "Drive for the Cure".

• Photo Album: 2007 Auburn meet "Drive for the Cure"
• Slide Show: 2007 Auburn meet "Drive for the Cure"

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

88189 bytes 001 Drive for the Cure check presentation for $225,000

230725 bytes 002 On to gymnasts-Cassie Martin bars WU

134002 bytes 003 with Tkachev and

ATHENS, Ga. - The No. 3 ranked Alabama Gymnastics team fell to No. 2 ranked Georgia 198.000- 196.050 in front of 10,224 fans here in Stegeman Coliseum today.