Tide's Dennis wants team to match her championship

ATHENS, Ga. | Although on face value it may be difficult to believe, University of Alabama gymnastics coach Sarah Patterson doesn't want history to repeat itself this weekend at the NCAA Championships in regard to Morgan Dennis.

Not that Patterson doesn't want Dennis to defend her title as national champion in floor exercise — of course she does — but the coach hopes the sophomore isn't fully rested for Saturday's individual finals because that would mean the Crimson Tide made the Super Six team finals, which will be held the night before.

That's what happened last year, when Alabama didn't make it to the Super Six for the first time in a decade.

'I'm hoping she's really tired, and she has to do one really tired routine,' Patterson said. 'I don't want her to have any rest on Friday night.'

Neither does Dennis, who could be a top contender for the all-around title as well after earning second-team All-American honors last year. The Crimson Tide's first priority here is to place in the top three of Thursday's afternoon preliminary and advance to Friday's Super Six, where the team championship will be determined.

'It was exciting,' Dennis said about the 2007 floor title. 'I don't think I really understood the importance of it until people were like ‘Hey, you're an NCAA champion.'

'This year, I really want the team championship.'

Fresh off its narrow runner-up finish at the Southeastern Conference Championship and regional victory, Alabama is seeded sixth in a very tight field. Alabama will first face No. 2 Florida, No. 3, LSU, Oregon State, Oklahoma and Arkansas, and begin the prelim on the balance beam.

'We have to a better job, this year, in the opening session,' Patterson said. 'There are no gimmes. When I look at the 12 teams, and the other five that are in our session, we're at a mini-SEC championship.

'You can't afford to have an off night. We'll be going after everything the first night, like they're handing out the trophy.'

By Alabama's second event, which is also its best, the Tide should have a good indication of its chances for advancement. That's the floor exercise, which was a key part of the team's late-season surge and is anchored by Dennis.

'She's unbelievable,' said sophomore Kassi Price, a second-team All-American on the uneven bars. 'I mean national floor champion last year. Just her poise is impeccable. With her height, her power, her everything is just amazing for our team.'

Although Dennis was scoring as high as 9.975 on floor early on last year, it wasn't until roughly the halfway point of her freshman season that she realized the magnitude of what she was doing, and the high level of competition in the SEC.

It was quite a wake-up call, especially for someone who nearly left the sport after a stellar high school career at Holy Cross in Westhampton, N.J.

'I didn't realize how competitive college gymnastics were, and I didn't even know if I really wanted to do it,' Dennis said. 'I was sick of gymnastics and didn't know if I wanted to do it for four more years. I knew it would be a full ride and college would be paid for, but was it really worth it? It was a tough decision.

'In club, it's all individual so if you mess up you only mess up yourself. I started learning accountability and responsibility.'

Those lessons are still being learned, like when Dennis and Terin Humphrey, who won the NCAA uneven bars title last year, received their championship rings during halftime of a football game at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Or when Alabama placed fifth in last year's preliminary. Dennis responded with her