THIS PAGE: UCLA’s
Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs
(left) tied for fifth all-around with Illinois’
Melissa Fernandez
(right).
OPP. TOP (L-R): Tying
for seventh all-around
were Kim Jacob(
Alabama), Leslie Mak(Oregon
State) and Jaime Pisani
(Arkansas).
OPP. BOTTOM LEFT:
Though her Georgia
team did not make it to
the Super Six, Cassidy
McCombtied for third
all-around.
OPP. BOTTOM RIGHT:
Defending champion
UCLA dropped to second this year, and 2010
runner-up Oklahoma
finished third.
Super Six. That format was voted in for this year
by the coaches two years ago. However, they
reversed their decision last year and decided to
retain the Super Six.
The battle over the format could come up
again in the offseason. Patterson is one who
favors the Super Six because it allows more
teams the opportunity to compete in the final
event. However, given her team’s dominance,
the Tide wasn’t feeling charitable enough to let
any teams other than UCLA threaten its dream
of winning the NCAA title, the program’s fifth.
In the end, Patterson could afford to joke
about the precedence her team has set, one that
has been hard for Alabama to match, until now.
“There was a time when we finished second
three years in a row and I would return from
nationals and receive sympathy cards from sever-
al fans. I think it is the expectations. At the Uni-
versity of Alabama we compete for the national
championship. We have great teams in all our
sports and I feel like it is an expectation.”
Call it an expectation, call it a hump or call it a
steady climb. Whatever its name, the Crimson
Tide conquered it.
The all-around title, which was determined
after the two preliminaries, went to Michigan
senior Kylee Botterman, showing why she also
was named the AAI Gymnast of the Year. She is
Michigan’s first all-around winner since Elise Ray
shared the 2001 title with UCLA’s Onnie Willis.
She finished her career with nine All-America
honors, earning the status in everything but vault
as a senior.
Two gymnasts gave their fans something to
cheer about during the individual finals after their
teams had failed to qualify for the Super Six.
Florida’s Marissa King won the vault, and Georgia’s Kat Ding won the uneven bars.
“For Florida, it was a difficult time with the
team not being able to get through to the Super
Six,” King said. “I’m very proud to come in and
win a vault title. We haven’t won an NCAA title
since 1998. I’m very proud and honored to com-
pete for Florida and to win this title.”
Ding was a favorite on the uneven bars coming
into the competition ranked No. 1, but she was
the second of 15 competitors to compete, which
caused some nervous moments. “Actually it was
kind of intimidating,” she said. “I didn’t know
what to expect. It’s nerve-wracking sitting there
watching everybody do their normal things. I’m
thankful that today was the day my routine decid-
ed to show up.”
UCLA freshman Sam Peszek, who missed the
first part of the meet season with a broken foot,
prevented an SEC sweep of the individual events
by winning the balance beam. “To end with the
beam title is amazing,” said Peszek, who added a
standing full-twisting back tuck to her routine for
the final. “I worked really hard on beam and it’s
my favorite event. It’s exciting to finish like this.”
Stack-Eaton won the floor exercise, rebound-
ing after a fall off the uneven bars, which ulti-
mately served as motivation, she said.
