Auburn gymnastics finished their regular season Saturday night at the Kidney Care Women’s Gymnastics Championship with a great road score of 197.575.
The 197.575 was good for second place in the meet, with the Tigers topping Fisk and No. 15 Ohio State. No. 6 Kentucky won the meet with a 197.925.
The Tigers were especially great through their first two rotations. They came out hot on beam, putting up a 49.475 behind 9.925s from senior Gabby McLaughlin and graduate student Cassie Stevens. Auburn had a big time starting routine from freshman Paige Zancan, who set the tone with a 9.875.
“I’m really happy with the grit and determination of this group,” head coach Jeff Graba said. “All the hard work is really starting to pay off. We started strong, which is something we’ve been working on.”
Auburn one-upped their score from beam with a 49.525 on floor. Their two rotation score of 99.000 had coach Graba’s team in first place. The lowest score from any Tiger on floor was a 9.875, displaying an absolute clinic of consistency. McLaughlin, and junior Sophia Groth led the way with 9.925s.
The slim lead was quickly overtaken by Kentucky in the third rotation, as the Tigers momentum came to a halt. Their 49.175 score on vault was solid, but not good enough to hold off the Wildcats. While it wasn’t the best team score for Auburn, Stevens delivered a huge vault for a score of 9.950.
With one rotation left, Auburn found themselves down by three tenths of a point to Kentucky, but well ahead of Ohio State and Fisk. A huge season-high score of 49.400 on bars propelled them to a comfortable second place finish in a meet packed with high-caliber competition. Graduate student Aria Brusch was the highlight of the rotation with a big time 9.950 routine.
Auburn took another huge step forward in the season, bettering their National Qualifier Score with a season-high score on the road. Their NQS improved from 197.180 to 197.315 thanks to a clutch performance in their last opportunity of the regular season. The Tigers also bested their scores from last week’s meet in every event.
The consistency of Cassie Stevens was on display again, as she finished tied for first in the all-around scoring with a 39.650. She won the individual title in vault as well with her tremendous 9.950.
“That was probably the most fun we’ve had all season,” Stevens said. “Our energy was really good and we were able to build on each event. We’re really starting to get in our groove and just believing in ourselves and trusting it. I just can’t say enough about the people that lead off our lineups because we can’t build momentum without them hitting for us.”
Up next for Auburn gymnastics is the SEC Championships in New Orleans. The Tigers await their session assignment as they prepare to take on the conference’s best. The championship meet will take place on March 23 at the Smoothie King Center.
