Alabama
Auburn
Gymnastics Closes Out Regular Season with Win over Auburn
3/28/2008 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
March 21, 2008
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The No. 6 Alabama Gymnastics team closed out the regular season by winning its 10th meet of the year in convincing fashion against 12th ranked Auburn, 197.1-195.900 with a confident performance punctuated by the Crimson Tide's best floor exercise performance of the season.
Sophomores Morgan Dennis and Ricki Lebegern tied for top honors in the all-around scoring 39.45, a season best for Lebegern and just shy of one for Dennis. Dennis also put an exclamation point on Alabama's floor rotation, drilling the final routine with a career-best 9.975.
"My landings felt really, really solid, and when I hit the last pass, the one that I've had some trouble with the last few meets, I knew it might go that high," Dennis said.
In addition to winning the floor, Dennis shared top honors on the vault with Auburn's Julie Dwyer when both scored a 9.9. On the uneven bars sophomore Kassi Price scored a 9.9 to take the win. Sophomore Casey Overton won the balance beam for the second week in a row after scoring a 9.875.
Alabama has now hit back-to-back 197-plus scores going into the Southeastern Conference Championships held in Duluth, Ga. next Saturday a fact that should give the Tide a boost in a league where six teams are ranked in the top 12 and four are in the top six.
"I think it does give us confidence," Alabama head coach Patterson said. "Since we've returned from California, we have worked extremely hard in the gym, with a lot of focus, to get us to this point. Not that we weren't working hard before that, but things are starting to come together and our confidence and focus have taken great strides forward."
The Tide posted five scores of 9.9 or better, on the floor exercise for a 49.65 team score, including a career-best 9.925 from senior Kaitlin White.
"Kaitlin's parents weren't here last week to see her score her first 9.9 in collegiate competition," Patterson said. "But I told her after her routine, before the score came up, `that was just as good, if not better than what you did last week, they've seen your best.'"
White had more than 20 family and friends among the 10,193 that fed off of and fed the Tide's performance, growing louder with each routine and each score.
Patterson also had good things to say about Overton, who competed in the Tide's uneven bars lineup for the first time in her collegiate career.
"That was Casey's first competitive uneven bars routine in more than two years," Patterson said. "She hasn't competed bars since she had shoulder surgery her senior year in high school. That routine is a big boost for us."
Overton scored a 9.825, helping push the Tide to a 49.250 team bars score. Alabama also scored a 49.25 in getting the night started on the vault, led by Dennis' 9.9 and junior Brittany Magee's 9.875. On the beam, the Tide posed a 48.95 behind Overton `s 9.875 and Lebegern's 9.825.
Players Mentioned
