Medalist Club: Postmeet Buzz: 04) Auburn

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The Medalist Club - Gymtide.com

The Booster Organization for the University of Alabama Gymnastics Program

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Season's Meets: [01 Super Six Challenge] [02 Penn State/Arizona] [03 Florida] [04 Auburn] [05 Kentucky] [06 Georgia] [07 Arkansas] [08 LSU] [09 Stanford] [10 Auburn] [11 SEC Championships] [12 NCAA West Regional Championships] [13 NCAA Championships (Thurs)] [14 NCAA Championships (Finals)] [15 NCAA National Championship - IND Events (Sat)] [[Postmeet Buzz Archives ]]

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Pink, pink, pink! We like the look, it's for a great cause, but...enough for now!
Twelve of the Tide’s 24 routines at Auburn were competed by freshmen, marking their fourth consecutive meet to perform at least half the team's routines.
Ashley Miles...no practice, 9.975 on vault. What do you say? Wow.
The crowd at Auburn was evenly divided into thirds. One-third Auburn fans, one-third Alabama fans, and one-third friends and relatives of Ashley O'Neal.
A further note about the crowd, OK, it wasn't 15,000, but it was 5000+, a very good turnout for the GymTigers. Congrats also goes to Auburn for an enjoyable pre-meet show and a fun atmosphere for the competition.
Erin Rightley got a lot of post-meet support for the 'go-to gymnast' of the meet. Her 9.80 on floor was timely and, as usual with Erin, beautifully performed. But, considering the circumstances, her 9.85 on beam following Ashley O'Neal's unfortunate fall was extra special. Erin, the Tide's lone junior, is much beloved by her teammates, who could barely contain their enthusiasm and mobbed her as soon as her feet hit the mat on her beam dismount.
Melanie 'Mighty Mel' Banville also received consideration as the 'go-to' after scoring a 9.80 on the tightly judged bars, a 9.825 leading off on vault, and a gorgeous 9.925 effort on floor filling in for Ashley Miles in the anchor spot.
Auburn's Karmen Pinckney had a scary-looking fall from the high bar. She appeared to lose her grip on a handstand and fell straight down, headfirst to the floor. Only a gymnast could have escaped serious injury...and only a gymnast would have hopped straight up, re-chalked, and, then finished her routine, which included another fall, as if it were no big deal.
Talk about consistency, Brittany Magee scored her fourth consecutive 9.775 on the balance beam. What makes that especially exciting is that Brittany is such a 'natural' on beam that it wouldn't be surprising at all if she soon turned that consistent 9.775 into a consistent 9.90.
And speaking of 9.90's on beam, Cassie Martin scored her second 9.90 on beam, won beam for the second time this season, and proved once again that she is one tough cookie. Both of Cassie's beam 9.90's this year have come after she suffered falls in the previous rotation.
Through four meets this season, Alabama has had a gymnast compete in the all-around just once: Melanie Banville in week two at Penn State.
Kaitlin White competed on three events (vault, bars, and floor) for the first time in her GymTide career. An accomplished elite gymnast who trained at W.O.G.A, Olympic champion Carly Patterson's home gym and arguably the nation's most productive training ground for women's elite gymnastics, it's great to see Kaitlin start coming into her own in college gymnastics.
The Tide has been on the road for three out of the first four meets, with yet one more road meet at Kentucky this coming Friday before returning home to host the Georgia Bulldogs on February 10th. Despite that, Bama has competed in front of a total of only 12,336 fans on the road, compared to 15,162 for the single meet at home.
In connection with Auburn's weekend-long celebration of their women's athletic programs, it was also alumnae night for the GymTigers. It was fun to see some of the Tide's former competitors, such as Sarah Wentworth, Mary Nell Pate, Sally Cantrell, Sarah Balogach, Erin Gannon, and Missy Lauderdale, to name but a few.