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A spirit that is not afraid

Auburn gymnastics set for home opener

<p>Dec. 3, 2021; Cassie Stevens during a preview meet from Auburn Arena in Auburn, Ala.</p>

Dec. 3, 2021; Cassie Stevens during a preview meet from Auburn Arena in Auburn, Ala.

Auburn gymnastics will have its first home meet on Friday against Iowa State, as the Tigers return from a trip to Arkansas, where the Tigers posted their second-best road score on their way to securing a win.

“We’re so excited,” said junior Piper Smith. “Can’t really put into words the excitement in the arena. There’s nothing really like it.” 

As for fifth-year senior Drew Watson, she's excited to have fans cheering for Auburn — rather than the Tigers' opponents — since they've been on the road for the first two meets.

“I think it’s super exciting," Watson said. "We’ve been on the road for the past two weeks, and they’ve had a lot of fans in the arena. Obviously, they were cheering for the other team, so it’s just going to be nice to just have the same amount of fans but cheering for us.”

Friday will be the first full-capacity crowd for Auburn gymnastics since the start of the pandemic.

“You look forward to the energy and the engagement with the crowd.” Graba said, “I am excited about the closeness of the fans. That’s what already separates Auburn Arena from all the other places in the country is that the fans are right on top of you and it’s a great thing.” 

As the first home meet draws closer, the Tigers are focusing on improving on something each week. 

“Last week we were working on toughness and sharpness,” Smith said. “We did pretty good with that, so we are going to continue that, take that with us, and we are working on consistency this week so that is the goal for this meet.”

The veteran Watson has been talking with members of the freshman class, making sure the team is at its best.

“I was kind of talking to the freshmen the night before the meet, and just kind of like being able to help them get in the right mindset and how they are going to approach warmups and competition and having to maybe prove yourself in warmups,” said Watson. “I want to help and make sure everyone’s at their best when they need to be, so I think any advice I can give to them is just for the team.” 

Graba also has his thoughts on where the team can improve coming off the two season-opening road meets.

“I think the team needs to become more consistent,” Graba said. “I believe we’ve risen to occasion and been tough, both meets, so we’ve proven that we’re a bunch of fighters. We were a little bit more precise last week than we were the week before, but we are still inconsistent with our approach.” 

With it being early in the season, starting rotations will continue to change.

“You have to make a choice then," Graba said. "If we were trying to knock it out of the park and maximize scores and maximize wins, we wouldn’t take those chances. But we might pay for that in March. We might have the right people dinged up, we might not know who is capable of a high score and using the wrong person. We just got to be smart.” 

It's a possibility that there will be new faces in the lineups when the No. 7 Tigers face Iowa State in Auburn’s first home meet of the season. It will take place in Auburn Arena on Friday, Jan. 21, at 7 p.m. CST. The meet will also be available to be streamed on SEC Network-plus. 

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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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