On Friday night, No. 6 Auburn defeated No. 9 Missouri by a score of 197.575 to 196.275 in its second consecutive top-10 matchup. The meet marks the third straight sell-out crowd in Auburn Arena for gymnastics meets this year.
“Overall, very happy and really liked [Auburn’s] fight and determination, but we need to clean up in some areas,” said head coach Jeff Graba.
It was a night full of individual career-highs for Auburn, including five career bests.
The highest individual score was a 9.975 on beam by Gabby McLaughlin, but she received a perfect 10 from one judge after the performance.
“[McLaughlin] was off in her warm-up, but the fact that she not only let that not get to her, but also perform one of her best routines ever, is incredible and says a lot about her as an athlete,” said junior Cassie Stevens.
Freshman Olympic Gold Medalist Sunisa Lee was the meet’s all-around leading performer, with a total score of 39.575. This score is just shy of her 39.825 score that got her recognized as SEC Gymnast of the Week last week.
As a whole, the team fell just short of its highest score in program history, 197.975, which it posted last week versus LSU. It did however stand out on beam, as it recorded the school’s program record with a 49.625 in the event.
“I’m really pleased with their cohesion,” Graba said. “We switched the lineup, putting Piper (Smith) in, and that could cause problems with your confidence if you’re not staying focused, so I think they handled it really well, and we’re that good of a beam squad. I guess I should say I’m not surprised.”
Auburn competed without its star junior Aria Brusch in the meet.
“This is the time of year we’ve learned we need to rest Aria because we push her pretty hard,” Graba said. “It just happens she was dinged up about the time we were going to rest her anyway. Not a surprise, she’ll be back in a week or two.”
Auburn started out the meet on vault, where it posted a 49.325 score. It was led by Drew Watson, who had a 9.925-score performance. Auburn came out of the first rotation with an early .175-point advantage.
It followed up on bars where Auburn excelled once again.
Auburn had two consecutive individual season-highs by Adeline Sabados with a 9.825 score, and Stevens with a 9.85. Lee closed out the second rotation for Auburn with a 9.9, following her perfect 10 on bars last week.
Heading into the third rotation, Auburn lead by .475 with a score of 98.550 to 98.075.
The Tigers in orange and blue headed to beam for the third rotation, where it posted a program record 49.625. The team was led by McLaughlin, who put up her career-best in the event with a 9.975. Then, Stevens built on that with her own career-best 9.95.
“You see the person in front of you sticking it and nailing it, and it makes you excited,” Stevens said. “It’s almost like ‘Beat that.’ You’re setting each other up for the ends of lineups to really knock it out of the park.”
Stellar performances on beam also included Piper Smith, who tied her career best with a 9.9, and Lee, who posted her second straight 9.9 of the night.
Lastly, Auburn performed on floor.
Last weeks SEC Freshman of the Week Sophia Groth recorded yet another personal best with a 9.925. Gobourne ended the night for Auburn with a 9.875 to secure the win.
With the victory, Auburn improved to 6-1 and 3-0 in Auburn Arena this season. The Tigers travel to Athens next Friday to face Georgia at 6:30 p.m. CST.
“We know we can get mid-to-high 197’s, it’s just focusing on the little things we do day in and day out,” Stevens said. “I think we’ve done a really good job this season, and [I’m happy with] where we are now. I think the next thing for us is just taking it to the next level.”
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