AUBURN, Ala. - The No. 12 Auburn Tigers took down the No. 9 Oregon State Beavers 197.025-196.975 Friday night after a wild ending that saw a score-deduction reversal go in favor of the Tigers. The one-tenth added back to Marissa Neal’s floor routine was enough to see the Tigers over the Beavers.
It was a slow start for both sides, but especially for Auburn on vault. It wasn’t until the fourth go that Auburn and Sara Hubbard found a score above 9.800. Paige Zancan followed with a 9.900 to highlight vault and win the title in the event. Though it was the Tigers’ lowest vault score since the season's opening meet, the 49.000 was enough to give Auburn a slim lead over the Beavers.
“We all have our mistakes,” Zancan remarked on the Tigers’ early struggles. “It was really cool to be able to go right after and still keep that momentum going so that everyone else behind me can finish up strongly.”
More of the same followed on bars, however, as Auburn saw three more scores in the 9.7s early in the rotation. Head coach Jeff Graba pinpointed Olivia Greaves' 9.925 bars routine to be the one that changed the momentum for the remainder of the meet. Keko Jong followed with another 9.925, and the Tigers would not cool down the rest of the night.
Halfway through, both teams would have liked to have seen larger numbers on the scoreboard, but it was Auburn who retained their slim lead. Once the third rotation hit, sticks started to pile up on each side.
After solid production from all of Auburn’s first four goes on beam, freshman Marissa Neal delivered the routine of the night. A nearly flawless beam set gave Neal a ten from one judge and a 9.950 from the other for a career-high 9.975.
“I was shocked,” said Neal on her ten from one of the judges. “It was the best feeling in the world. I’ve dreamed of that my whole life and I’m just so proud.”
Auburn was already sitting on a season-best score, but Gabby McLaughlin, the last Tiger on beam, bumped it up even higher. Her 9.900 closing routine saw the event total soar to 49.450, a mark that took last season’s talented Auburn squad six meets to hit.
Perhaps the most eye-catching battle at this point was the all-around competition between Tiger freshman Jong and U.S. Olympian and Oregon State Beaver Jade Carey. Jong sat just 0.05 points behind the best all-around gymnast in collegiate gymnastics as the two headed into their final events.
Both freshmen, Neal and Jong showed maturity well beyond their years in a gritty performance.
“I really feel like you’re limiting them if you pigeon-hole them into ‘you’re just a freshman, you have to learn the system,’” said Graba. “They have stood up to pressure amazingly well.”
It lined up perfectly for a nail-biting finish, as the Tigers led narrowly going into Oregon State’s bread and butter rotation.
The Tigers were hitting their stuff, but Oregon State was roaring back behind a historic beam score. Their 49.575 was the highest number the Beavers had put up on that apparatus since March 4, 2023.
Once again, Neal stepped to the mat needing to deliver. She did just that, scoring a 9.875. However, the judges came together and found a neutral deduction, claiming she had stepped outside the lines of the floor. This added a deduction worth one-tenth of a point, which stood through the remainder of the rotation. Carey then closed out with a 9.975 on beam to give her team what looked like the win.
After the final scores were announced to the arena and the fans started to file out, it was determined that Neal’s deduction had been reversed following an inquiry by the Tigers. Her 9.875 had been reinstated, and instead of falling by 0.05, Auburn found themselves on top by the same amount.
“At the end, I was able to review the video and I was pretty confident that we’d get the tenth back,” said Graba. “She was close, but we were able to prove that she didn’t go out. For the most part, I knew the result was different than everybody else thought at the time, but just really, really happy with the group.”
After an electric ending, Auburn will have momentum to carry into their next conference meet. They will travel up north to take on the Kentucky Wildcats next Friday. First rotation will start at 6 p.m. CT with coverage still to be determined.
