Gymnastics Beats No. 8 Stanford 196.250-195.850
3/10/2006 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
In the battle between the No. 3 ranked Alabama Gymnastics team and No. 8 Stanford, it came down, as Crimson Tide head coach Sarah Patterson said it would, to the last rotation, last competitor for both teams.
Luckily for Alabama, their last competitor is Ashley Miles.
The two teams were deadlocked going down the line through the last rotation, with Alabama using a 49.325 on the floor exercise punctuated by Miles 9.975 to overtake the Cardinal, which scored a 48.825 on the balance beam. Alabama beat the Cardinal 196.250-195.850 to go to 13-1-0 overall while Stanford fell to 12-3-0 on the season.
"I said all along I felt all along it would come down to the last rotation and we would have to go out and hit our floor routines exceptionally well to win the meet," Patterson said. "This Stanford team is a great team. They just beat UCLA and they tied us two years ago at nationals."
The Tide's cause got a big boost mid way through its floor lineup when junior Erin Rightley tied her career best, going 9.9. Two gymnasts later, freshman Melanie Banville posted a 9.9 of her own, followed by Miles' exclamation point of a 9.975. Meanwhile, Stanford was posting a 48.85 on the balance beam, punctuated by a meet best 9.85 from Tabitha Yim.
"I think we have made a lot of improvements in some areas and I think we also made some mistakes that are easily fixable," Rightley said. "Overall, we weren't perfect but we have a lot of room for improvement."
On its third event, the balance beam, Alabama was pushed to a 48.825 by Humphrey's 9.825 in the anchor spot. Stanford scored a 48.750 on the floor exercise, its third event. Stanford went into the final in the lead by .075.
"I figured it would be really close," Patterson said. "I told the ladies coming into the meet that we would have to really hit our floor routines to win."
Alabama started off the night with a 49.150 on the vault led by Miles winning 9.925. Freshman Brittany Magee posted a 9.85 while sophomore Kaitlin White landed a 9.825. Stanford scored 49.125 on the vault paced by a 9.9 from Yim.
The Tide got three 9.85s on the uneven bars to score a 48.950. Miles and Banville led the Tide off with a pair of 9.85s while sophomore Terin Humphrey finished the set off with the same score. Stanford came away with a 49.125 on the bars led by Liz Tricase's meet best 9.875.
Banville won the all-around with a career best 39.275.
Before the meet started, Alabama honored its alumni, including the 1996 NCAA Championship team, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.
The Tide closes out the regular season Friday, March 17 at home against Auburn. Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.rolltide.com/ or at the Alabama Ticket Office (205.348.2262) located in the lobby of Coleman Coliseum.
