No. 8 gymnastics performed above and beyond in front of a full house Saturday night, April 4, during the NCAA Gymnastics Championship in the Auburn Arena.
The team totaled 196.900 overall, smashing the record for the highest regional total in the program’s history.
“We talked all day about, ‘You have to fight for everything you get here,'” said head coach Jeff Graba. “I don’t think it’s a surprise that we were fighting all night. It was a wild night.”
With this score, the Tigers claimed the second spot overall and will advance to the NCAA National Championships.
“To finally have it happen, to start the legacy… it’s exciting,” said Megan Walker.
The starting rotation gave Auburn a bye, and the team started out on bars for its first event of the night.
On bars, the Tigers scored nothing lower than a 9.800, including a 9.900 for both Caitlin Atkinson and Megan Walker.
Auburn ended bars with a 49.000 total.
The Tigers then rotated onto beam, starting with Caryn Kadous who grabs a 9.225.
The score only went up from there for the team, with both Abby Millet and Bri Guy landing a 9.850.
Megan Walker boosted the overall score with a 9.900 after recovering from a small balance risk.
Auburn headed to the third event with a 49.050 on beam, totaling a 98.275 overall.
After another break in rotation, the Tigers showed their tumbling skill on floor and proved exactly why Auburn claims the No. 8 spot nationally.
With an overall 49.175, the team totaled a 147.500 total in the competition leading into vault.
The Tigers then scored a 49.400, their best performance of the night and totals a 196.900.
“Vault is kind of the gimme event,” Walker said. “Once we got through (beam) … we all had the feeling, if you just stay on your feet on vault, we knew we had a good chance we were going (to nationals).”
Credit on vault is due to MJ Rott and Lexus Demers with the highest scores of 9.900, including a career-high for Brittany Webster with a 9.850.
Auburn will now prepare for nationals in Fort Worth, Texas, from April 17-19.
“The past three years we’ve worked so hard,” Atkinson said. “We’ve been fighting this whole season. To see our hard work pay off is super exciting.”
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