Most knew what Saturday’s Super Six Challenge would come down to — No. 1 vs. No. 2. Unfortunately, the top-ranked Gym Dogs could not hold off Alabama in front of a sold out Stegeman Coliseum. The Crimson Tide outlasted a youthful Georgia team 195.75-195.4.

"We had a young team out there tonight and they did an incredible job continuing the tradition," Gym Dog coach Suzanne Yoculan said. "I still think we have a strong enough team to win the National Champion-ship."

In the early stages of the event, No. 3 UCLA eliminated themselves with a poor showing on the balance beam. The Bruins averaged just a 9.25 on the competition and basically ended their chances of winning the competition. It was apparent in the early stages of the event that the team that best survived the balance beam event would win the challenge.

In just the meet’s second rotation, the team from Florida fell victim to a less than impressive showing on the bars. The poor performance by the Gators put them behind for good in the star-studded field on this north Georgia evening.

It was this same second rotation that possibly sealed the fate of the top-ranked Gym Dogs. Georgia suffered from three different participants falling off the balance beam. The four-inch wide apparatus yielded the Gym Dogs a meager average of 9.55, as opposed to much higher numbers in the other rotations. After all teams had completed two events, the Gym Dogs stood fourth in the field — with more than a full point to make up on the front-running Crimson Tide.

Following their turn on the floor exercise, the Gym Dogs pulled to second place with just one event remaining. However, the ‘Dogs stepped out of bounds twice on the floor exercise causing painful and costly deductions.

The home team still mathematically had a chance, though, with Alabama with rapping up the competition on the treacherous beam.

"We knew that we needed to hit perfect 10s on the vault to win this thing," Yoculan said. "We still had a chance."

Unfortunately for the Gym Dogs, there would be no Kerri Strug-like miracle in the final rotation.

Even though the Gym Dogs had a strong showing on the vault –the best of any team in the field — the deficit was too much to overcome. In the same rotation, Alabama sealed the deal by posting a meet high 48.375 on the beam.

Robin Hawkins, a junior at Alabama, was ecstatic to get the win at the University.

"It’s been our goal to beat Georgia since they’re number one in the nation," Hawkins said. "É We performed really well tonight and to improve upon what we’ve done is our goal."

Before the Coliseum emptied, the announcement came: "Remember Gym Dog fans, the University of Alabama will be back in just three weeks.

The message was clear and unmistakable. Maybe next time the Gym Dogs will roll over the Tide.

You can see the Super Six Challenge on Sunday, January 16, 2000, at 3:00 PM on ESPN.