The No. 16 Auburn gymnastics team concluded its busy weekend of travel at the third-annual Elevate the Stage meet Sunday. The Tigers dropped yet another conference matchup, this time to No. 5 Alabama by a final score of 195.850-194.675, in the Legacy Arena at the BJCC.
“Three events were pretty good for us today,” head coach Jeff Graba said. “I wanted them to learn how to make a quick turnaround and be aggressive. We started out strong and I was happy with our first two events. However, we tightened up in our last event and I think this young team will learn from this.”
The Tigers started the day strong on bars and came away with a season-high score of 49.150. Leading the youthful Auburn squad was redshirt senior Kelsey Kopec, who clinched the event title with a 9.875. A trio of sophomores in Samantha Cerio, Taylor Krippner and Emma Engler added a 9.825 each, while freshman Gracie Day capped things off with a 9.8.
Auburn transitioned to vault in the second rotation and finished with a score of 48.9. Freshman Katie Becker earned a career high in the event, leading the Tigers with a 9.825. Engler followed with a season best at 9.8, while Krippner received a 9.775. Day and sophomore A’Miracal Phillips ended the scoring at 9.75.
The third rotation had Auburn on floor and the team was awarded a 49.025 collectively. Seniors MJ Rott and Kullen Hlawek put together solid performances for a pair of 9.825s, which was a season-best for Hlawek. Becker and senior Lucia Scaglione opened the event with 9.8s and redshirt freshman Emma Slappey picked up a 9.775.
The young Tiger team closed the day on beam and was led by a career-high score from Slappey, who tallied a 9.85. Hlawek and Cerio each added scores of 9.725 for Auburn. Two falls in the final event cost the Tigers however, who finished with a 47.6.
Auburn falls to 0-5 overall, and 0-4 in the SEC. The Tigers return to Auburn Arena for another SEC match up, hosting No. 23 Arkansas on Feb. 3. The Tigers and the Razorbacks will square off at 7 p.m. CST and the meet will stream on SEC Network+.
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