Alabama
Denver
Gymnastics Beats Denver, 197.025-193.350
2/6/2009 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
Feb. 6, 2009
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama Gymnastics team beat Denver, 197.025-193.350, in front of 10,114 fans Friday night in the Crimson Tide's first home meet since mid-January. It marked the fifth meet in a row that Alabama has posted its highest score of the season.
"I'm very excited that we performed well tonight," Alabama head coach Sarah Patterson said. "It's been difficult being on the road three of the first four meets. I was just really excited to be back here and to take some of the things that we learned on the road and incorporate them here in front of our fans."
Alabama posted season-high scores on its first three events, the vault, uneven bars and balance beam and was just off its season best on the floor exercise. Junior Ricki Lebegern led the Tide with a season-high all-around score of 39.425.
"Ricki continues to be our rock," Patterson said.
Freshman Geralen Stack-Eaton and Morgan Dennis tied for top honors on the vault while freshman Ashley Priess and Denver senior Jessica Lopez tied for top honors on the uneven bars. Lebegern, Stack-Eaton and Priess tied for first on the balance beam and junior Kassi Price and Lopez tied for first on the floor exercise.
Alabama got the night started with a season-high 49.175 on the vault, paced by 9.875s from Stack-Eaton and Dennis. It was a career-high score for Stack-Eaton. Sophomore Megan Mashburn scored a career-high of her own, going 9.825.
Priess scored a 9.925, tying her career-high, to lead the Tide to a season-high 49.375 on the uneven bars while Lebegern got the rotation started with a career-high 9.875. Price scored a season-high 9.9 as well.
Alabama took a commanding lead into the second half of the meet and never let up, scoring a season-high 49.3 on the beam after getting three consecutive 9.875 scores from Lebegern, Stack-Eaton and Priess in the middle of its lineup. Price scored a 9.85 in her 2009 balance beam debut.
The Tide finished the night off with a 49.250 on the floor exercise, led by a 9.9 from Price. Senior Ashley O'Neal got Alabama started with a 9.85 for the second week in a row, a score matched by Lebegern while Priess added a 9.875.
After stinging her ankle in vault warm-ups, Dennis did not compete in the Tide's last two events, the beam and floor.
"Morgan has that big dismount (on the balance beam) so I decided since we had great routines and that Kassi would do a great job," Patterson said. "I just substituted her in for Morgan and we did that on the floor as well. I think it shows that not only can we be a great team but that we have people who can step in and that's going to be the key for us down the road."
Alabama remains at home next Friday, facing Southeastern Conference foe LSU at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available through the Alabama Ticket Office (205.348.2262), located in the lobby of Coleman Coliseum, or online at RollTide.com.
Players Mentioned
