Category Archives: gymnastics

LIVE BLOG: Alabama gymnastics, national semifinals

Posted on April 19, 2013 by | Comments Off

This post will be constantly updated during Alabama’s appearance in the national semifinals hosted by UCLA at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, Calif. The Tide will be competing against the following schools: UCLA, Arkansas, Michigan, Oklahoma and Utah. The top three of those six schools will advance to Saturday’s finals, where the top three from the first heat (Florida, LSU and Georgia) will make for a pool of six teams vying for a national championship.

You can hear Rich Robinson and Leesa Davis call the action on 90.7 WVUA-FM by clicking here. The live stream can be heard on mobile devices via the TuneIn app (search 90.7 WVUA-FM after downloading the app.

Rotation Six

Alabama punched its ticket to the Super 6 with a 49.350 on the vault to make for a final score of 197.350. Alabama’s 49.350 on vault was added to a 49.275 on uneven bars, 49.275 on balance beam and 49.450 on floor exercise.

Alabama will face Florida, Georgia, LSU, UCLA and Oklahoma in the Super 6 tomorrow.

Here are the individual scores from the vault.

Kayla Williams: 9.850
Kim Jacob: 9.800
Ashley Priess: 9.800
Kaitlyn Clark: 9.900
Lauren Beers: 9.900
Diandra Milliner: 9.900

And the final team scores from the meet (those in italics advance to Satuday’s Super 6):

Alabama: 197.350
Oklahoma: 197.200
UCLA: 197.200
Michigan: 196.850
Utah: 196.200
Arkansas: 196.150

Alabama in the Individual Awards:
– Vault: Lauren Beers, Kaitlyn Clark and Diandra Milliner all tied for 3rd with 9.900s.
– Uneven Bars: Tied for 5th was Ashley Priess with a 9.900.
– Balance Beam: Kayla Williams’ 9.900 tied for 1st with Danusia Francis of UCLA.
– Floor Exercise: Diandra Milliner’s 9.95 tied for 1st with Arkansas’ Katherine Grable and UCLA’s Olivia Courtney.
– All-Around: The 39.425 from Kim Jacob was the best from the Tide, finishing tied for 5th.

Rotation Five

Alabama took to the floor exercise for its third of four events in Rotation Five. Here are the individual scores.

Ashley Priess: 9.800
Lora Leigh Frost (Decatur, Ala., native): 9.850
Lauren Beers: 9.875
Sarah DeMeo: 9.850
Kim Jacob: 9.925
Diandra Milliner: 9.95

Milliner’s 9.95 is tied with UCLA’s Olivia Courtney for the best score of the meet on the floor.

Here are the team scores with just one event left: Oklahoma 197.200, Michigan 196.850. For those with one event left: UCLA 148.025, Alabama 148.000, Utah 147.975, Arkansas 146.875.

Alabama’s situation going into the final event is as follows:
– Alabama needs a 48.85 on vault to pass Michigan, 49.2 to pass Oklahoma. A 49.2 on the vault would put Alabama ahead of Michigan, Oklahoma and Arkansas, thus in the top 3 and in tomorrow’s national championship meet.
– Alabama could also score something in between a 49.2 and 48.85 and get into the top three as long as Alabama’s score on floor exercise is more than .025 greater than UCLA’s score on uneven bars.

Rotation Four

Alabama took a bye before going to the floor exercise for Rotation Five.

Here are the team scores through Rotation Four: Oklahoma 148.050, UCLA 148.025, Michigan 147.575 and Arkansas 146.875. For those through two events: Alabama and Utah 98.500.

Rotation Three

Here are the individual scores from Alabama’s 49.275 on the balance beam.

Diandra Milliner: 9.850
Kaitlyn Clark: 9.800
Kayla Williams: 9.900
Sarah DeMeo: 9.850
Kim Jacob: 9.850
Ashley Priess: 9.825

Kayla Williams’ 9.900 on the balance beam is currently tied for the best score of the meet with UCLA’s Danusia Francis.

Alabama has now scored 49.275 on both of its first two events: uneven bars and balance beam.

Here are the cumulative standings through three rotations (all teams have taken one bye and competed in two events): Oklahoma and Alabama 98.500, Utah 98.525, Utah 98.500, Michigan 98.175, Arkansas 97.875.

For Rotation Four, Alabama will take a bye before going to the floor exercise for Rotation Five.

Reminder: the top three advance, so halfway through, Alabama looks good to move on to the national championship meet tomorrow.

Rotation Two

Alabama scored a 49.275 on the uneven bars, its first event of the night. Here are the individual scores.

Becca Alexin: 9.800
Kaitlyn Clark: 9.850
Kim Jacob: 9.875
Sarah DeMeo: 9.850
Ashley Priess: 9.900
Ashley Sledge: 9.800

Priess’ 9.900 on the uneven bars is tied for 1st on the meet with two Michigan gymnasts: Katie Zurales and Brittnee Martinez.

Team Standings through Rotation Two: Oklahoma 98.550, Michigan 98.175 for teams through two events. For teams through one: Utah 49.300, Alabama 49.275, UCLA 49.075, Arkansas 48.975.

Alabama moves to the balance beam for Rotation Three.

Rotation One

Alabama has a bye, as does Utah, and will start competition in the next rotation on the balance beam.

Standings through Rotation One: Michigan 49.400, Oklahoma 49.275, UCLA 49.075, Arkansas 48.975, Utah and Alabama 0.

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VIDEO: Awards and celebration from Tuscaloosa Regional

Posted on April 6, 2013 by | Comments Off

In the video posted below, Alabama gymnasts celebrate their individual awards won in the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional before celebrating the team win together. The win punched Alabama’s ticket to the NCAA semifinals in the pursuit of three-straight national championships.

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Alabama gymnastics blows away NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional, punches ticket to NCAA Championships

Posted on April 6, 2013 by | Comments Off

Ashley Priess in the process of scoring a 9.9 on the uneven bars on the way to winning the all-around title.

Ashley Priess in the process of scoring a 9.9 on the uneven bars on the way to winning the all-around title.

Alabama gymnastics coach Sarah Patterson admits, openly, she held redshirt senior Ashley Priess back. For a while.

“She’s been wanting to go all-around all year,” Patterson said. “Part of it was she wanted to go and her coach said no.”

And while we’re being honest, it was a tough pill to swallow for Priess.

“There have been times where I was a little frustrated because I felt like I was ready,” she said.

The time finally came in the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional, where Priess stepped up and delievered 9.9s in all four events, taking the all-around crown with a 39.6 and helping Alabama win its 28th-straight Regional title with a team score of 197.400.

Utah is the other qualifier out of the Tuscaloosa Regional, earning second place with a 196.400.

“I just felt like, at this point in time, we’re at the end, she’s ready to go,” Patterson said. “To me, Ashley is the epitome of Alabama gymnastics, because she always peaks at the right time.”

Junior Kim Jacob added, “Ashley had an amazing night. We all knew she could do it, but this is the time we really needed her. We had no doubts she had it in her.”

Alabama had to work through some bumps to get the high score and the win, twice in high-pressure situations after falls. Kaitlyn Clark’s fall on the balance beam put the lineup in a tight bind to keep from counting a fall, as did Sarah DeMeo’s fall on the uneven bars.

Jacob responded on beam with a 9.95 and Priess’ well-timed 9.9 on the uneven bars kept the Tide up as it counted just one score below a 9.8.

“I thought they did great,” Patterson said of those who followed the falls. “Kaitlyn Clark, she hasn’t fallen all year, and I just said to Kaitlyn, ‘You’ve been here for us all year. We’ve got your back.’”

Now Alabama can look with full focus towards the NCAA Semifinals on April 19th, and if Alabama is one of the top 12 there, it will advance to the finals to go for back-to-back-to-back national titles.

“I think now we can go to UCLA and compete the way we competed at SECs: we were fearless. Tonight was all about advancing,” Patterson said.

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No. 4 Alabama gymnastics ends No. 1 Oklahoma’s perfect season emotional Senior Night in Tuscaloosa

Posted on March 15, 2013 by | Comments Off

Freshman Lauren Beers scored a 9.9 on the floor exercise in Alabama's regular season finale win over Oklahoma. (Photo courtesy of UA Athletics)

Freshman Lauren Beers scored a 9.9 on the floor exercise in Alabama’s regular season finale win over Oklahoma. (Photo courtesy of UA Athletics)

Earlier in the week, Alabama gymnastics coach Sarah Patterson had a strong theme of emotion management going into Senior Night against No. 1 Oklahoma, trying to let her seniors enjoy the moment while keeping them focused on the task.

Patterson got the focus she wanted, as the senior class finished without a home loss after toppling the previously 19-0 Sooners 197.525-196.900, but could not keep the tears from streaming down senior Ashley Sledge’s face before the meet.

“When we went and got introduced, it was pretty emotional,” Sledge said, slyly adding, “for some of us,” with a light chuckle knowing she hadn’t fooled anyone.

The night had a perfect ending for Sledge, walking off the floor exercise having just earned a 9.875 with waves and blown kisses for the fans in attendance. And it was nearly taken away by one outstretched arm a few hours before.

“Sledge almost had to talk me into putting her out there, because (assistant coach) Bryan (Raschilla) kind of had to turn her over on one of her tumbling passes,” Patterson said.

At the end of the night, Priess, like the rest of her teammates, left the gym with a supreme level of confidence as the Tide moves into postseason competition next week with the SEC Championship in Little Rock, Ark.

“I think tonight’s meet was a real confidence-booster,” redshirt senior Ashley Priess said. “We had some real standout moments on all four events, really. I wouldn’t say we’re at our best in every event, but there are easy areas where we can improve in practice and I don’t think this team can be any more confident going into postseason.”

Few athletes have progressed as far as freshman Lauren Beers, who competed in three events and scored a 9.9 or higher on two of them, including a 9.95 on vault.

“I am absolutely thrilled with Lauren,” Sledge said. “Just going from not competing to competing events and exhibitioning (balance) beam tonight, she did a fantastic job. We’re searching for that bar spot, and I think she definitely did her job in her spot.

“Gosh, she has just come such a long way.”

Patterson labeled Beers as a key component for the team’s advancement since Marissa Gutierrez’s ankle injury that has sidelined her for the last three weeks.

“I think if you look at why our team has progressed, I think if Lauren hadn’t stepped up in the capacity she’s in and we don’t have Marissa in there, we’re not scoring what we’re scoring,” Patterson said.

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No. 5 Alabama at No. 4 LSU, gymnastics meet information

Posted on March 8, 2013 by | Comments Off

Who: No. 5 Alabama (5-2-1, 4-2-1 SEC) vs. No. 4 LSU (9-3, 5-2 SEC)

Where: Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Radio: 90.7 WVUA-FM, Rich Robinson and Leesa Davis, starting at 7 p.m. (click here to listen online)

Television: Cox Sports Television (tape delayed)

Last Time Out: Alabama beat No. 6 UCLA at home 197.075-196.375, LSU beat No. 7 Georgia at home 197.050-196.825.

Previous Meeting: Alabama beat LSU in Coleman Coliseum 196.575-195.525 on Jan. 18. Alabama’s Kim Jacob won the all-around crown.

Noteworthy: LSU is 4-0 at home this season, all against teams that were ranked in the top 25 at the time of their visit to Baton Rouge: No. 22 N.C. State, No. 3 Florida, No. 7 Georgia and No. 20 Arkansas …. Jacob will be going for her sixth all-around title for the 2013 season …. Alabama will be wearing pink against LSU to support breast cancer awareness. Alabama is 2-0 in 2013, 19-0 all-time, in pink.

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Diandra Milliner named SEC Specialist of the Week

Posted on March 6, 2013 by | Comments Off

Alabama senior gymnast Diandra Milliner has been named the SEC Specialist of the Week, the conference released in a statement Wednesday, for her 9.95 on the floor exercise in Alabama’s 197.075-196.375.

Milliner, from Wichita, Kan., tied Alabama all-arounder Kim Jacob for the best score on floor and best score of an event for the meet.

“Diandra’s floor routine against UCLA was amazing,” Alabama gymnastics coach Sarah Patterson said. “It’s the best one she’s done in competition to this point. To have her there to anchor what is becoming one of the nation’s best floor lineups is certainly a big advantage for us.”

Fellow senior Ashley Sledge was named the SEC Gymnast of the Week for her performance against Auburn on Friday, Feb. 15. You can read more about her honoring by clicking here.

Alabama takes to the road this Friday, meeting the LSU Tigers in a return trip after Alabama’s 196.575-195.525. You can hear the meet live on 90.7 WVUA-FM starting at 7 p.m. on Friday by clicking here for Rich Robinson and Leesa Davis’ call, and you can click here to read about Alabama’s previous victory over LSU.

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Youth comes through in Alabama gymnastics win over UCLA

Posted on March 2, 2013 by | Comments Off
Alabama's Kim Jacob captured her 5th all-around title of the season in Alabama's win over UCLA. (Photo courtesy of UA Athletics)

Alabama’s Kim Jacob captured her 5th all-around title of the season in Alabama’s win over UCLA. (Photo courtesy of UA Athletics)

The Crimson Tide gymnastics team was hobbled at one of the biggest points of the regular season, heading into its home meet with the No. 6 UCLA.

With seniors Marissa Gutierrez and Ashley Sledge either not participating or only participating in part, Alabama plugged in freshmen Carley Sims and Lauren Beers to find a 197.075-196.375 win over the Bruins, who, like Alabama, lay claim to six national championships in program history.

“I felt like our team needed to cross over that line, that 197 line, and this is now the third meet in-a-row that we’ve done it,” Alabama coach Sarah Patterson said.

Patterson came away from the meet not only encouraged by the final score, but also by the two freshman who had to fill in to get the score. Beers came in with a 9.850 on the vault while Sims scored a 9.8 on the same event while also acting as the exhibitionist on the floor exercise. Beers scored a 9.325 on the floor.

“I think they’re both so talented,” Patterson said. “Carley really struggled in warmups tonight and I think both of them put so much into their floor routines when they get out in front of thousands of people that they perform at a different level.”

Senior Ashley Priess, who scored a 9.925 on balance beam and a 9.875 on floor, added, “The little mistakes we had tonight, that comes through experience. You’ll know how to time a landing and things like that when you’re under the lights and so forth. You’re only as strong as you’re weakest link, so we need everybody to keep pushing each other and keep improving.”

Patterson also feels good about the status of her gymnasts that were unable to compete.

“Ashley Priess had a sore foot,” she said. “If this were the national championships, I probably would’ve let her go on vault on floor, but based on the fact that we’ll need her in the end, I thought it was a good opportunity to let other people get out there.”

Now the Tide turns its focus to next week’s meet, a return trip to LSU after the Tide beat the Tigers 196.575-195.525 earlier this season in Coleman Coliseum.

“We have been talking all week about having another springboard performance, using each meet to kind of launch us to the next meet,” Priess said. I think we did that tonight. We did a lot better with stuck landings, handstands and other little things tonight.”

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Alabama gymnastics ties Arkansas, 5th tie in school history

Posted on February 25, 2013 by | Comments Off

Gymnastics is one of few NCAA sports that is not predicated on wins and losses throughout the regular season, but on the scores the teams put up throughout the season. Luckily that is the case, as the Crimson Tide gymnastics team tied the Arkansas Razorbacks 197.100. Even further, the teams tied perfectly in all four events: 49.425 on vault, 49.175 on uneven bars, 49.150 on balance beam and a 49.350 on the floor exercise.

Alabama was led on the vault by a 9.95 from Marissa Gutierrez, who injured her ankle later in the meet on an awkward landing in the floor exercise. Sarah DeMeo’s 9.9 was not only the best for the Crimson Tide on the uneven bars, but a meet-high.

Alabama had three 9.9s on the balance beam, from DeMeo, Ashley Priess and Diandra Milliner. The trio tied with Arkansas’s Erin Freier to tie for the meet-high. Leading the Tide on floor exercise was Kim Jacob with a 9.9.

Alabama’s next meet will be at home against No. 6 UCLA.

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Alabama’s Ashley Sledge named SEC Gymnast of the Week

Posted on February 19, 2013 by | Comments Off

Senior gymnast Ashley Sledge scoring a 9.9 on the floor exercise to push Alabama to its 106th win over Auburn. (Photo courtesy of UA athletics)

Senior gymnast Ashley Sledge scoring a 9.9 on the floor exercise to push Alabama to its 106th win over Auburn. (Photo courtesy of UA athletics)

Senior Ashley Sledge was named the SEC Gymnast of the Week, made official in a release from the conference Tuesday morning for her performance in Friday night’s win over Auburn.

Sledge, a senior, scored 9.9 in all three of her events: the floor exercise, the uneven bars and the vault. Sledge’s 9.9 on the floor tied her career high on that event and helped push Alabama’s floor exercise score to 49.500, a season-high for the team. Alabama also set a season-high on vault with a 49.475 in part to Sledge’s 9.9.

Alabama will go on the road again this Friday to Arkansas. Alabama is 1-2 on the road this season, beating Missouri to open the season but losing to Florida and Georgia in back-to-back weeks.

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No. 5 Alabama gymnastics keeps streak going over Auburn

Posted on February 15, 2013 by | Comments Off
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Alabama’s Ashley Priess scored a 9.875 on the floor exercise to anchor three scores of 9.9 or higher on the event. (Photo courtesy of UA athletics)

The Crimson Tide gymnastics team came through with season-high scores in the vault, balance beam and floor exercise at the perfect time: not only to get off of a two-meet losing streak with a 197.650-196.575 win, but also against Auburn for its 106th win in a row over the Tigers.

But beating Auburn, as significant as beating the hated rival is, was not the team’s proudest moment from the meet.

“They know the rivalry, they know all about that,” Alabama coach Sarah Patterson said. “When you think back, we haven’t lost (to Auburn) in 33 years, some of these kids have parents that are not much older than 40, so the magnitude of it, I don’t think that plays into it.”

Admittedly, the timing was pretty good to set a new season-high overall score of 197.650 in front of a sellout crowd in Coleman Coliseum.

“It helps a little bit, maybe, that it was Auburn, but we don’t take the meet just by who we’re competing against because in the end, it’s our team score that’s going to count for our rankings,” said Alabama’s Marissa Gutierrez, who had a meet-high 9.925 on vault.

Gutierrez said there was one particular move that the entire team put an emphasis on leading up to the Auburn meet.

“Some of the upperclassmen took it upon themselves to ask the coaches if we could do a bunch of stick drills every day and play little games on it each day,” Gutierrez said. “We tried to emulate each of landings the best we could do it and I think that helped us tonight.”

The improved landings made for a grand realization of the team’s potential.

“I think this is the meet that we were looking for,” Patterson said. “We weren’t perfect, but we stepped it up on all levels. We’ve done this in practice, but we never did it in a competition. Tonight, this showed we can be one of the top teams in the country.”

Contributed by Brett Hudson

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Gymnastics Meet vs. Auburn, information

Posted on February 15, 2013 by | Comments Off

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When: 7:30 p.m.

Where: Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Radio: WVUA-FM (click here)

TV: CSS (tape delayed)

Rankings: No. 5 Alabama vs. No. 15 Auburn
– Vault: Auburn 4, Alabama 5
– Balance Beam: Alabama 7, Auburn 9
– Uneven Bars: Alabama 5, Auburn 10
– Floor Exercise: Alabama 7, Auburn 30

Noteworthy: With a win, Alabama will earn its 106th consecutive win over Auburn, holding Auburn off for over 30 years …. Alabama’s Kim Jacob had her all-around title streak in 2013 snapped in the last meet at four in-a-row. Jacob won the all-around in the first four meets of the season before being knocked off by Florida’s Bridget Sloan …. Auburn has posted scores above 196.000 three weeks in a row coming into Friday’s meet, the longest streak in school history.

Contributed by Brett Hudson

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Tide gymnastics team releases schedule

Posted on July 22, 2012 by | Comments Off

The Alabama gymnastics team released its schedule Sunday for the 2013 season, and it includes six squads the Tide beat to win the NCAA championship for the second straight year.

According to a news release from the school, the list includes runner-up Florida and third place UCLA. Also, there is No. 6 Arkansas, No. 7 Oklahoma, No. 9 LSU and No. 11 Georgia.

“Any time you go into a season as the defending champion, everyone on your schedule circles that meet in red,” Alabama coach Sarah Patterson said in the news release. “We’re facing the most competitive schedule we have assembled in several years. The ultimate goal is to prepare our ladies to be on the floor the last night of the season with a chance to win a championship. We want to be the best and to do that you have to compete against the best week in and week out.”

Patterson said. “Coleman Coliseum is one of the best environments in collegiate athletics and that rises to an entirely different level during a championship.”

Alabama will be going for its seventh NCAA championship, eighth SEC crown and 28th regional title this season.

The 2013 Alabama gymnastics schedule

Friday, Jan. 11, at Missouri

Friday, Jan. 18, LSU

Friday, Jan. 25, Kentucky

Weekend of Feb. 1, at Georgia

Friday, Feb. 8, at Florida

Friday, Feb. 15, Auburn

Friday, Feb. 22, at Arkansas

Friday, March 1, UCLA

Friday, March 8, at LSU

Friday, March 15, Oklahoma

Saturday, March 23, SEC championships at Little Rock, Ark.

Saturday, April 6, NCAA Regional Championships at Tuscaloosa

Fri.-Sun., April 19-21, NCAA championships at Los Angeles

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McElroy wins Paul W. Bryant Award

Posted on April 27, 2010 by | Comments Off

Quarterback Greg McElroy joined gymnast Kassi Price as recipients of the Paul W. Bryant Award that goes to Alabama’s top male and female student-athletes.

Being a national championship winning quarterback is only part of the award. McElroy got his degree in three years and is currently working on his masters in sports administration. In December, he told us that he’d only received one B in college, fittingly in a leadership course.

Price has a 4.0 GPA with a double major in marketing and advertisement and a two-time academic All-American.

And now, your daily Kige Ramsey video. Remember it is from two years ago.

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Saban visits gymnastics practice

Posted on April 15, 2010 by | Comments Off

Here are a few photos of Nick Saban’s visit to Alabama’s gymnastics practice released by media relations. The Tide is preparing for the national title meet in Gainesville.

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Gymnastics meet different, not half bad

Posted on March 20, 2010 by | Comments Off

Since I was in Tuscaloosa last night working on a few different things, covering Alabama’s top-ranked gymnastics meet provided another first in my journalistic voyage. Needless to say, it was quite different than the other sports I’ve covered.

There was a different energy in the building, possibly a result of the thousands of screaming children in attendance. I also came away impressed with the athleticism with which these pint-sized, but muscular gymnasts compete.

On top of that, they seemed to enjoy every second of the night.

Four-time national champion coach Sarah Patterson was clapping along with the team next to the floor exercise mat. Smiling and even laughing, her sideline demeanor differs more than a little from some of the other coaches in other sports. Afterward, still smiling, she introduced herself to this college gymnastics first-timer. Very classy.

Now, check out this video I took of All-American Morgan Dennis’ final floor exercise routine.

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