3 Gymnasts To Compete for Individual NCAA Titles Saturday
4/25/2008 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
April 25, 2008
ATHENS, Ga. - For the Alabama Gymnastics team, Thursday's preliminary session of the NCAA Championships was all about one thing, and one thing only, advancing to the Super Six Team Finals.
The Crimson Tide accomplished that goal by finishing second in the first of two prelim sessions, advancing to finals for the 14th time since NCAA went to the two-day team format in 1993. Only Georgia has been to more Super Six finals than Alabama.
But there were other things on the line Thursday, other honors and other placings that will come into play on Saturday as three Alabama gymnasts advance to individual event finals and four earned All-American accolades.
Defending NCAA Floor Exercise Champion Morgan Dennis will go for two in a row on Saturday while fellow sophomore Kassi Price will compete for the national uneven bars title. Freshman Kayla Hoffman will contend for the NCAA vault crown. Dennis and Hoffman posted the highest scores coming out of Thursday's first session while Price was third.
The top four finishers on each of the four apparatus, plus ties, from each session advance to Saturday's individual finals. First team All-American honors are also the top four finishers, plus ties, from each of Thursday's sessions along with the top four all-arounders (again, plus ties). Second team All-Americans are the next four finishers in each event and the all-around plus ties up to eighth place. If there are eight or more first team All-Americans due to ties on a particular event, then there is no second team on that event from that session.
Dennis, Price and Hoffman all earned first team All-American honors on the events they will compete on Saturday. Dennis is also a second team All-American in the all-around and on the uneven bars while sophomore Casey Overton is a second team All-American on the balance beam.
Dennis has now earned six All-American honors through her first two seasons while Price is now a two-time All-American.
Individual finals get underway at 5 p.m. CT in Stegeman Coliseum on the University of Georgia campus. Alabama has earned 21 individual NCAA titles since Penney Hauschild won the Tide's first two national championships in 1985.
Players Mentioned
