After just two years with the gymnastics team, coach Jeff Graba was named SEC Coach of the Year March 24, while sophomore Bri Guy earned All-SEC second team honors two days later.
"I like the fact that it's something that my peers vote on, and it gives me a lot of pleasure to know that I'm being recognized for doing a good job by the people who know what the job is," Graba said. "Also, the fact that the SEC coaches are some of the best in the country--it's a big honor for me."
Graba coached previously at the University of Utah for five years.
"We're building a program here and that's a little bit different than Utah," Graba said. "There, it was initially a huge learning experience, and then it also prepared me for what I want this program to get to, which is basically a national powerhouse. We're not there yet, but we feel like we're going in the right direction."
While at Utah Graba helped the team to the highest bars score in the preliminaries at the NCAA championships in '06, '07 and '09.
Under Graba, Auburn's team is ranked No. 13 nationally, and Guy is the first gymnast to win an SEC weekly award since 2010.
Before his stint at Utah, Graba spent two years as assistant coach at Utah State and in 2005 coached the Aggies to their first Western Gymnastics Conference Championship.
His coaching career began at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn., where his team won six consecutive Division III national championships.
Guy has been a consistent leader this year. She was named SEC Freshman of the Week in February and is the first to earn an All-SEC mention since Lindsay Puckett in 2009.
"Going into regionals I think I'm at a pretty good place right now," Guy said. "I just need to be a little more consistent on some events, but other than that I'm feeling pretty good."
Guy said her strongest event is the floor, and her weakest event is a toss up.
"I guess it depends on the day; sometimes it's like a spike between bars and beam," Guy said. "For beam, if you're not mentally ready to do the event, you're not going to stay on."
Recording five of the highest-scoring floor routines this season, Guy posted a 9.9 at the SEC Championships March 24 in Duluth, Ga.
Guy is also the only gynast from Auburn to receive an All-SEC mention. Florida and LSU both have four.
Graba said Guy is an example of the positive direction Auburn gymanstics is heading.
"This is great recognition for Bri and great recognition for a quality freshman class," Graba told Auburn athletics. "It just shows that the future is bright for Auburn gymnastics."
Despite displaying consistent perfromances throughout the year, Guy said being a college athlete is more than working on physical strength.
"My biggest challenge I think would be balancing practice and schoolwork at the same time," Guy said. "Pacing myself and taking it one day at a time really helps."
Guy said her coach is a constant influence on her performance, and Graba's coaching style only helps the team during competitions.
"I love the coaching staff," Guy said. "(Coach Graba) is very straightforward with you. He doesn't like to beat around the bush or play mind tricks with you. He's going to be blunt and it's what you need to hear sometimes. He's not going to sugarcoat it for you, and it's a big help. His extra push just helps me get my mind straight and go for it."
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