Auburn gymnastics may have lost to Missouri on Friday, but Auburn still walked away with two event titles and a season-high road score in the loss.
No. 19 Auburn lost to Missouri by a score of 196.175-196.100. This is Auburn’s highest road score of the season.
It might have been a loss in the schedule, but it was a positive note for Auburn as they can use this average for the postseason.
It's a good team score in a tough place to compete," said head coach Jeff Graba. "I thought the team was mentally tough tonight, but we had too many small errors to really capitalize on a win. The good thing is that these are fixable mistakes that we can address this upcoming week before we host a solid Georgia team."
Not only did Auburn finish with its highest road score of the season, but they also had some individual wins, specifically from freshman Gabby McLaughlin. McLaughlin won beam for the second meet in a row with a career-high 9.95.
“Gabby has been really consistent and is capable of this every night,” Graba said. “She’s a rockstar on beam and it shows week in and week out.”
McLaughlin also scored a career-best on floor with a 9.775.
Sophomore Cassie Stevens also received recognition finishing second overall with a combined 38.975 in the all-around. This average was boosted by her 9.75 on beam and her 9.8 on floor.
Auburn started on bars and finished with a 48.95. Sophomore Anna Summers tied a career-high with a 9.8. That was followed by the same average from sophomore Adeline Sabados. Junior Derrian Gobourne anchored with a 9.85 to pull the highest bar average for Auburn.
Rotation two was the vault where Auburn received a 48.975. Gobourne continued to anchor with a 9.825. However, senior Drew Watson led the team in this event with her season-high of 9.875, which also led her to the event title.
The Tigers attacked the floor next with a 49.050. Gobourne continued to impress in this event and earned a 9.925 on the same routine that earned her a 9.975 the meet before. Stevens finished with a 9.8, and freshman Olivia Hollingsworth scored a 9.8, which is a career-high.
Auburn wrapped up the meet on the beam with its best score of the night at 49.125. This is where McLaughlin shined with her 9.95. Watson and Stevens also helped the average with a 9.825 and a 9.75, respectively.
Auburn is now 0-5 and will host Georgia on Friday at 7 p.m. CST with the meet on SEC Network-Plus.
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Mattison Allen is a senior from Springville, Ala. She's majoring in public relations communications with the goal of becoming a sports information director one day.
