It wasn't long ago that the Auburn gymnastics team only dreamed of scoring a 197, competing in the night session at the SEC Championship or earning a top regional seed.
In fact, this year's seniors were there to experience it.
“It’s just funny, the growth from my freshman year when we were happy to get a high 195," said senior Caitlin Atkinson. "Now some of these girls, if we get a 195, they don’t know what that feels like, so to be a part of that is really something special."
Atkinson, along with fellow seniors Kait Kluz and Lexus Demers, have helped make those days nothing but distant memories. Since joining the Auburn program, they've seen it improve year by year, and before they knew it, the Tigers were breaking over 50 program records and competing in the 2015 Super Six at the NCAA Championships.
But their journey didn't stop there. They still had their senior year left, and they wanted to prove the previous year was not a fluke, that Auburn gymnastics was here to stay.
They not only lived up to expectations.
They surpassed them.
They led Auburn to its first ever road win against Georgia, broke a 117-meet losing streak to Alabama and shattered even more records.
“I definitely think coming off of last year, we talked about what else can we give for this program after breaking so many records," Kluz said. "We were just able to build off of that, being able to repeat things and setting records for ourselves, like beating Alabama and beating Georgia at Georgia for the first time. I think just being able to say we’ve done that as a class and as a team is really exciting for us and really tremendous.”
Coach Jeff Graba also acknowledged the feats this class has accomplished, as building off of a year like 2015 is a task not many could pull off.
“This class had as big a challenge, if not a bigger challenge in front of it," Graba said. "Last year’s class was great because we were able to break all of those records. With this year’s group, the repeat is often difficult, and then they’ve also done some things that have never been done before. Beating Alabama was a big deal. Beating Georgia at Georgia is a big deal. So this class is going to go down as one of the most successful classes that we could have had.”
Graba knows saying goodbye to each of the seniors will not be easy with how much they've done to help build the program from the ground up.
“I guarantee we wouldn’t be where we are without them and what they’ve done for this program," Graba said. "When Lexus actually committed, I think we were ranked in the 20s at some point, so it just says a lot that we’ve come this far through her leadership and the other girls’ leadership. Caitlin’s impact is pretty easy to look at when you look at the records that she’s set. Then you add Kait Kluz on to that as well, and in the end we aren’t where we are without what Kait brings to the table. Now, you look at how many routines she’s done for us, along with the other ones, it’s going to be tough to say goodbye.”
Even with how much they've done for the program, Demers said she will forever appreciate what her years at Auburn have done for her.
“It’s been a long journey since I began here," Demers said. "I’ve really grown and developed into the person I am today. I can thank gymnastics for that and the coaching staff and really everyone here at Auburn.”
Though their careers are coming to a close, the class of 2016 will always be remembered, and Atkinson can't wait to see what's ahead for her team.
“It’ll be amazing to see where it goes after we’re gone and graduated," Atkinson said. "I’ll always be a part of this team, this will always be my team and I’ll always be so proud of my girls when I’m gone.”
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