Gymnastics Hosts Arkansas and Academic Achievement Night
2/17/2006 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
The No. 3 ranked Alabama Gymnastics team faces off against No. 21 Arkansas in Coleman Coliseum Friday (Feb. 17) in a series still in its infancy.
While Alabama is in its 32nd season of gymnastics competition, the Lady Razorback program is just four years old, having started with the 2003 season under co-head coaches Mark and Renee Cook. Their squad has made remarkable progress in a short time. They were fourth at last year's NCAA East Region Championships and fifth at the Southeastern Conference Championships.
While the Lady Razorbacks are only making their second trip to the Capstone, the first coming in 2004, the Cooks brought their previous team, Stanford, to Coleman Coliseum for the 2001 Super Six Challenge.
In addition to Arkansas, Alabama will also be welcoming some of the area's top students to the Coliseum for "Academic Achievement" night. Students in the Tuscaloosa area, from kindergarten to 8th grade, who made the "A-B" honor roll, are invited to the meet. Nearly 50 city, county and private schools in the Tuscaloosa area were given vouchers for their honor students good for admittance.
"I feel that our ladies are role models in the community, and we do all that we can to encourage students to do the best they can in the area of academics," Alabama head coach Sarah Patterson said.
The Alabama gymnastics team walks the walk when it comes to making the grade. This past fall, the Tide produced an amazing 3.661 team grade point average. Three gymnasts earned prefect 4.0s and 11 earned GPAs of 3.5 or better, earning them Dean's List honors.
"From the day we begin recruiting an athlete to the day they walk across the stage at graduation, we stress academics as the most important aspect of their experience here at Alabama," Patterson said. "I want our ladies to win national championships and I want them to break records, but first and foremost I want them to do the best they can in the classroom."
Tickets are available online at www.rolltide.com and in the Alabama Ticket Office located in the lobby of Coleman Coliseum (205.348.2262).
