Freshman Ashley Priess Takes Third at NCAA Gymnastics Championships
4/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
April 18, 2009
LINCOLN, Neb. - A day after helping the Crimson Tide to a second-place national finish here at the Bob Devaney Sports Center, a trio of Alabama gymnasts competed in the individual event finals of the NCAA Championships.
"Our ladies gave it their all last night and came away with far and away their best performance of the season," Alabama head coach Sarah Patterson said. "They didn't hold anything back and it earned them a second place finish in one of the closest and toughest NCAA Championships I can remember. Tonight was the icing on the cake of a truly amazing season."
Freshman Ashley Priess posted the Tide's highest score and highest finish on the night, going 9.9 on the balance beam and taking third place. It was Alabama's highest finish on the beam since Jeana Rice took second place in 2004.
"It was a lot harder than I expected," Priess said. "It was really difficult because it's the third day of competition and you're by yourself, you don't have your team backing you up.
"It's easier for me to do my best for a team."
In the first event final appearance of her career, junior Ricki Lebegern scored a 9.8 on the beam to take 10th place. In a crowded uneven bars final (there were 16 UB routines on the night) junior Morgan Dennis finished tied for 10th with a score of 9.8125 while Priess finished 12th with a 9.8.
"It was fun," Dennis said. "I was actually surprised I made bars finals. I came to Alabama thinking I was a vault and floor specialist, but it was exciting."
LSU's Ashleigh Clare-Kearney won the vault and shared the floor exercise title with Georgia's Courtney Kupets. Kupets also won the balance beam and uneven bars.
Priess earned first team All-American honors on the beam and bars while Dennis and Lebegern were first team on the bars and beam respectively. Priess and Lebegern earned second team All-American honors on the floor exercise and in the all-around. Freshman Rachel Terrey earned second team All-American honors on the vault.
"Reaching All-American status is such an extreme honor and it was awesome to see Ashley up on the award stand," Patterson said. "It made an already incredible weekend that much better."
Dennis ran her career total up to six All-American honors while the rest of the Tide's contingent earned their first honors. Overall, 55 Alabama gymnasts have earned 238 All-American honors since 1982.
"All that work paid off," Lebegern said. "Earning All-American honors this year is definitely going to make me more confident as a gymnast going into next year."
All-American honors and the participants in event finals are decided by the results of the championships' first day. The top-four finishers on each event in each of the two sessions, plus ties, are named first team All-Americans and event finalists while the next four finishers are named second team All-Americans.
Players Mentioned
