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A spirit that is not afraid

Auburn gymnastics looks forward to first SEC road matchup against Arkansas

<p>Dec. 3, 2021; Suni Lee does a routine on beam while participating in a preview meet from Auburn Arena in Auburn, Ala.</p>

Dec. 3, 2021; Suni Lee does a routine on beam while participating in a preview meet from Auburn Arena in Auburn, Ala.

In Tuesday's gymnastics press conference, senior Derrian Gobourne, junior Aria Brusch and head coach Jeff Graba talked about the upcoming meet with Arkansas to open SEC play and about the team’s performances at North Carolina.  

Auburn ended the North Carolina meet with a final team score of 196.250 and the win. The first rotation started off shaky on bars, but the rotations became increasingly steady as the Tigers finished on vault with their best rotation score of 49.350. 

Both Gobourne and Brusch were proud of the team for pulling out the win on the road at North Carolina. 

“We didn't have the best meet, and I just feel like the way we pulled it together with the mistakes that we made and still have a great road score, that's just super inspiring,” Gobourne said.  

Coach Jeff Graba mentioned how he is looking forward to erasing some of the mistakes that were present at the North Carolina meet at Arkansas. 

He said that underclassmen really got some reps this meet as “Everybody had to learn at North Carolina. I felt we accomplished what we needed to accomplish, and still, a byproduct, got a good score and ranked high.” 

Graba went on to say that consistency is key to achieving these high scores on each event, and the first and second athlete in each lineup are extremely important in setting the tone for that rotation. 

Gobourne next talked about how excited she was for SEC meets. 

“I'm honestly just super excited," Gobourne said. "Arkansas is an amazing team, so I'm just excited. Competing against a SEC team is just something different, so we're all just really excited.” 

Brusch also shared the excitement for SEC play. 

“Honestly, it's just another team," Brusch said. "I mean, it is an SEC team, yeah it's going to be on TV, but it's just the same as any other meet and we are going to go out there and approach it just the same we we did at UNC.” 

Graba is also looking forward to the SEC contest. 

“To me it's a good test, and Arkansas is really good at home, but in the SEC, everywhere you go, home or away, is a tough meet," Graba said. "The goal is to go in and embrace the environment because it's going to be like that all year.” 

Graba also talked about how the team needs to get used to that kind of attention and being on center stage.  

Both Gobourne and Brusch agreed that the freshman class is extremely talented. 

“We are all just super talented, but the freshman class is just amazing, and I'm so excited for each and every one of them. They are just so awesome and I just can't wait to see what they bring to this team,” Gobourne said. 

Brusch and Gobourne are also confident that this team has the talent to go to the national stage and compete with the big names in the country.  

Overall, Graba, Gobourne and Brusch are pleased with the team’s opening performance at North Carolina and are looking forward to open SEC play this Friday against a solid Arkansas team.  

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Emily Porch | Sports Writer

Emily Porch is a senior from Sylacauga, Alabama. She joined The Plainsman in fall 2021.

Twitter: @emilycporch


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