Though they have yet to drop out of the top 10 this season, the Auburn gymnastics team admittedly struggled to gel in the first few weeks of the season.
Through the first five weeks, the Tigers failed to score higher than a 196.275. But with a young team, the early-season stumbles were expected.
What wasn't expected was the injury bug shaking up the lineup. In the fifth meet of the season at Arkansas, two of Auburn's regulars went down with season-ending injuries.
First, freshman A'Miracal Phillips dislocated her foot during her vault routine. Then, minutes later, freshman Emma Engler tore a knee ligament during her beam routine.
Rather than rattling the team, senior Caitlin Atkinson said the injuries only brought them closer.
"That was one thing going into that meet that we wanted to work on, our team chemistry," Atkinson said. "It’s not been awful, but it’s been a little bit rocky, so we were really focusing on being together, being a unit and just gelling together. After they went down, we got together and were like, ‘Let’s keep pushing, let’s do this for them.’ So we tried to finish strong and do the best we could for both of them, and then focus on them afterwards.”
Since that meet, Auburn has taken the next step in its quest for a second-straight NCAA Super Six berth. The Tigers have posted their four highest scores of the season, including three straight 197's and the first win against Alabama in 117 meets.
"We responded really well (after the injuries)," junior MJ Rott said. "I was a little bit worried about how we would gel together as a team after everything that happened. I’m just really proud of us.”
Even with the evident improvement, head coach Jeff Graba still sees an area where his team can progress.
“(The injuries) at the Arkansas meet basically changed a third of our lineup on vault, and I think we still haven’t settled down with how to compete with the people we have in the vault lineup," Graba said. "We have good vaulters, it’s just that we haven’t done a good job of building off the scores like we’ve been able to start doing on the other events. That’s one of the main things we’re working on.”
With the postseason approaching, Graba said it's a good sign his team can still perform better while posting record scores.
“I like the fact that we can score 197 and we’re still not overly satisfied with it," Graba said. "We feel like we still have a little room left to grow, but I think only eight teams in the country have scored more than one 197 and we’re one of them, so I think that puts us in some rare company.”
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