In Auburn’s opening meet of the season, the Tigers scored a 196.250 to win over North Carolina and Bowling Green in Chapel Hill, N.C.
It was Auburn’s highest score in an opening meet since 2009 when the Tigers scored 196.375 against Illinois-Chicago.
“This is the best first meet we’ve had in quite some time,” said Auburn head coach Jeff Graba. “Score-wise, it’s one of our best in history.”
Fifth-year senior Drew Watson agreed with Graba.
“This was the best first meet I’ve had in five years,” Watson said. “I just felt like we were super solid, no one made uncharacteristic mistakes. I felt like it was a really good starting point and I’m just so excited for the rest of the season.”
“We’re not happy with this meet,” Graba said. “We’re better than this…but to start like this with all the struggles that we had, this group fights and that’s what it’s going to take. You don’t win if you can’t learn how to fight.”
The Tigers earned a first-place finish in the North Carolina Tri-Meet ahead of the Tar Heels’ 195.700 and Bowling Green’s 192.600.
Olympic All-Around gold medalist Sunisa Lee made her highly-anticipated debut for Auburn, competing on the uneven bars and balance beam. Lee scored a 9.775 on the bars after her foot hit the low bar, resulting in a deduction of two-tenths of a point and costing her a 9.975. Lee rebounded on the beam with a 9.875, Auburn’s highest score on the event.
“She’s just juiced up, she’s really tight and got nervous,” Graba said. “But it’s her first routine since the Olympic Games and she hasn’t had a lot of practice. I just felt like she’s a true competitor. She fought all the way through that, gets a decent score, then goes to beam and knocks it out of the park. She's just a mentally tough kid who’s a true competitor.”
Derrian Gobourne once again proved why she is a fan favorite, earning Auburn’s highest scores on bars and floor. Gobourne scored a 9.875 on the vault and floor, and a 9.825 on bars.
Auburn had one participant in the all-around competition, Cassie Stevens. Stevens earned a 9.675 on bars, a 9.775 on beam, a 9.850 on floor, and a 9.825 on vault.
Stevens’s overall score of 39.125 was good for second place out of five all-around participants. North Carolina’s Lazi Dekanoidze was first with a score of 39.325.
The Tigers opened up the meet on the uneven bars, scoring a 48.825, the Tigers’ lowest score of the night. It was the only event Auburn did not win. Aria Brusch scored a 9.800 and Gobourne anchored the rotation with a 9.825.
The Tigers then moved to the balance beam, earning a score of 49.150. Lee’s 9.875 and Brusch’s 9.850 led the Tigers.
Auburn’s next event was the floor exercise, in which the Tigers scored 48.925. Sara Hubbard and Morgan Leigh Oldham, the first two gymnasts on the event, stepped out of bounds and were both given a score of 9.6. The Tigers overcame the miscues as three of the final four Tigers on the floor scored a 9.85 or better, led by Gobourne’s 9.875 to anchor the rotation.
After three rotations, Auburn and North Carolina were tied with team scores of 146.900.
Auburn concluded the meet on the vault, earning a 49.350, its top score of the meet. No Tiger scored below a 9.8 on vault. The vault of the night was performed by Drew Watson, who scored a 9.95, the highest score for any gymnast on any event.
Watson was not originally scheduled to be in the vault lineup.
“We didn’t have Drew originally in our vault lineup and we wanted to test her out and see how she was going to look,” said Graba. “Drew warmed up very well and we figured we’d better put her in.”
Auburn’s vault score of 49.350 was better than their highest vault score last season. North Carolina’s 48.800 on the floor in the final rotation could not equal Auburn’s fourth rotation score, and Auburn earned its first season-opening win since 2019.
“It’s super encouraging that that high score is our starting point,” Watson said. “It's a super solid foundation and it gives us a lot of hope. We all knew that we could do this, so it was just awesome to show off what we’re capable of.”
The Tigers will look to carry the momentum of this performance into conference action next week when they hit the road to face Arkansas on Friday, Jan. 14 at 7:30 p.m. CST. The meet will be televised on the SEC Network.
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Matthew is a senior from Huntsville, Alabama, majoring in journalism. He started with The Plainsman in fall 2021.
Twitter: @mattwallaceAU
