2014 SEC Championships

The Scoop on SEC's Podium Training

The Scoop on SEC's Podium Training

Mar 22, 2014 by Brittany Norton
The Scoop on SEC's Podium Training

SEC Championships
Birmingham, AL
#1 Florida, #2 LSU,#4Alabama, #6 Georgia, #12 Auburn, #15 Arkansas, #31 Kentucky, #40 Missouri
2pm CT Session I (Auburn, Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri)
6pm CT Session 2 (Florida, Alabama, Georgia, LSU)
Defending Champion: Florida (198.00)
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Florida:
            Starting on vault Bridget Sloan said she had a tough time adjusting to the equipment. The podium gives the athlete more spring and it seems, maybe, Sloan had too much of it and was looking for a way to control it. A few of her teammates seemed to be encountering the same issues. By the end of the rotation they seemed to have corrected the problem with clean vaults. Kytra Hunter stuck a gorgeous Yurchenko 1.5. Maybe we will see her third perfect 10.0.
            On bars Sloan had a very uncharacteristic crash into the low bar on her bail. Luckily her coach was there to catch her. Sloan corrected the mishap on her next turn, but it looks like that one will leave a bruise. Other than that, Florida looked to be their usual selves: gorgeous lines, hitting handstands, and sticking dismounts.
            The beam on the podium is said to be pretty shaky by many teams, and it took some getting used to for the Gators, as there were a few wobbles from Kytra Hunter, Claire Boyce, Rachel Spicer, and Sloan. Freshman Boyce looked to be getting the feel for the podium for the first time and did several repetitions. Spicer had some trouble on her leap to Shusanova, and her cat leap to Gainer layout.
            Florida’s floor warm-up showed no signs of nervousness. The usual floor line-up warmed up, and then the alternates, Jamie Shisler and Mackenzie Caquatto. Caquatto will not compete all-around in an effort to save her body for nationals.
LSU:
            Sarie Morrison, Rheagan Courville, and Jessie Jordan all started out with clean consistent bar routines and several stuck dismounts. The sticks could be the deciding factor of this fierce competition.
            On beam there seemed to be no major mistakes or wobbles. However, I did not see many stuck dismounts. Floor is one of LSU’s strongest events, and it definitely showed. Rheagan Courville and Lloimincia Hall, both have routines you cannot miss and they surely showed them off today. Hall did minimal tumbling, and I was very disappointed that she did not perform her famous seat drop in the dance through.
            Vault showed great lines, straight legs, and stuck dismounts. Not surprised. All in all, LSU brought their “A” game and will be a top contender.
WATCH LSU Podium Training Videos
Rheagan Courville and Sarie Morrison UB
Lloimincia Hall FX
Rheagan Courville FX
Jessie Jordan UB
LSU Interviews
Lloimincia Hall
Head Coach D-D Breaux 
Sarie Morrison 

Alabama:
            Solid. That’s all I can say. Alabama started on beam and showed no problems with that. Kim Jacob and Sarah DeMeo, Diandra Millner, all had solid beam warm-ups. On floor the Tides tumbling seemed to have even more flight than usual. A standout performer for me was senior Kim Jacob. She was spot on today and will be a huge factor in helping her team possibly win SEC’s.
WATCH Alabama Podium Training Videos
Georgia:
       Georgia stood out on beam. The whole beam line-up has unique routines and skills with great execution. Other teams said the beam was a little wobbly, but if it was a problem, Georgia showed no signs of it. If they can keep their nerves under control, beam will definitely give them a leg up in the competition. Georgia also swings beautiful bars and showed many sticks.
WATCH Georgia Podium Training Videos
Lindsey Cheek BB
Chelsea Davis UB
Cat Hires FX

Auburn:
            Bri Guy was on the floor cheering on her teammates from her motor scooter and sporting two blue casts from achilles surgery. All-arounder Caitlin Atkinson seemed to be pretty solid on vault and floor.
Watch Auburn in Podium Training

Arkansas:
            All-arounder Katherine Grable is one of the most important assets to Arkansas’ team. However, today she seemed to be nursing her hip flexor. It affected her so much that she mostly only did dance throughs and a few dismounts on beam. During beam she even sat down to press a warm towel into her hip for relief. On floor, again, it was mostly dance throughs. Hopefully she will be able to recover enough tonight to perform well tomorrow. However, I think this nagging injury might just take away from her concentration. Grable was named 2014 SEC Gymnast of the Year. 
WATCH Arkansas Podium Training Videos
Katherine Grable BB
Katherine Grable and Sydnie Dillard FX
Katherine Grable UB
Arkansas Interview
Katherine Grable 

     
©Kentucky Communications       
Kentucky:
            Audrey Harrison, the top all-around gymnast for Kentucky really showed leadership during this podium training. Every time I looked over at her she was giving words of encouragement. Be on the lookout for Harrison’s amazing front handspring onto the board to a front pike.
WATCH Kentucky Podium Training Videos
Amy Roemmele BB
Sarah Shipley BB
Audrey Harrison FX
Audrey Harrison UB
Kentucky Interview
Audrey Harrision 


 Missouri:
            Mizzou seemed to be hanging in there. I saw a few rough routines and skills, but most were corrected by the end of the rotation. Floor seemed to be their most solid event with only a few out of control passes.
WATCH Mizzou Podium Training Videos
OVERALL:

            I’d say that the rankings coming into SEC’s are pretty accurate. Judging by what I saw today, I think it’s definitely going to be a competition between Florida, LSU, Alabama. If Florida can compete like they know how to do they can easily pull off a score in the 198’s. However, both LSU and Alabama looked confident and hungry for the title and are very capable of the same high score.