No. 5 Auburn will hold its next home meet this Friday, Feb. 25, against the Kentucky Wildcats.
The Tigers traveled last week in their 197.175 to 196.300 win over the Georgia Bulldogs. While it was one of the lower scores that Auburn has posted as of late, it was still a solid win heading into another home meet. Kentucky fell short against No. 2 Florida last week by a score of 197.575 to 197.350.
“We’re just focusing on the little things, so I guess quality over quantity," said Cassie Stevens. "Get done what you need to get done. Don’t do too much because you don’t want to over-work yourself.”
Auburn’s highest score of the meet came on floor with a rotation score of 49.425. This score tied the second-highest floor rotation score of year for the Tigers. Auburn proceeded to score a 49.150, a 49.400 and a 49.150 on bars, vault and beam respectively.
The most notable improvement in the season so far for Auburn has been on vault. This has been an area that head coach Jeff Graba has stressed that needs to be better for most of the season. So far, the Tigers have steadily improved and scored a 49.400 on the event last week. Graba seems to be concerned about the fact that vaults are not being upgraded yet when the season has progressed this far.
“Vault needs to improve,” Graba said. “I’m hoping to get a couple of upgrades at least warmed up, if not competed. But we have to start competing them pretty soon. Bars needs to clean up. We’re just a bit of a mess the last week, and we’re better than that so they just need to settle down and do what they are capable of.”
Several gymnasts also had a standout night for the Tigers last week that will be looking to repeat their performances in front of a home crowd.
Suni Lee grabbed the all-around title once again in the meet against Georgia with a score of 39.775. She also earned the event titles on all of the events, becoming the first Auburn gymnast since Caitlin Atkinson in 2016 to sweep every event title in a meet.
Lee started her night on bars, scoring a 9.925 in the anchor spot. She then introduced a new vault, a half-on front layout, which had never been competed in NCAA gymnastics before, for a score of 9.925. She also scored a season-high 9.950 on floor and scored another 9.975 on beam to close out the meet for the Tigers.
Other gymnasts also contributed big numbers to Auburn’s score. Both Derrian Gobourne and Drew Watson posted 9.900s on vault. Gobourne also contributed a 9.875 and Watson a 9.850, both on floor. Sophia Groth, who was competing in the all-around for the first time in her collegiate career, earned a 9.950 on beam to contribute to her 39.425 all-around score.
“I think Friday was a great learning experience,” Groth said in regards to her all-around debut at Georgia. “Starting on bars, I had a good routine, but obviously not my best, so I just wanted to take that experience and take the good things and I made some improvements.”
While Kentucky did lose to Florida, it did put up a solid score of 197.350. The high score of the night came from the vault rotation with a score of 49.450. The Wildcats then scored a 49.400 on on bars, a 49.375 on floor and a 49.125 on beam.
There are also several gymnasts to watch out for as the Wildcats travel to Auburn.
Raena Worley has been the stand-out gymnast for Kentucky so far this season. The two-time SEC Gymnast of the Week had a good meet against Florida, winning the bars event with a score of 9.925. Worley also collected a 9.950 on floor and a 9.875 on beam.
Arianna Patterson also had a good night against Florida. The senior collected the vault title for the meet with score of 9.950 and also scored a 9.850 on beam, the 9.850 being a season-high for Patterson on the event.
“They’re (Kentucky) a tremendous program,” Graba said. “As soon as they get this road score, they are going to be in the top 10. So, it’s a top-10 matchup for us. We’re viewing it that way. It’s just like an LSU, it’s just like when Missouri came to town. It’s a team that wants to win. They want to beat us, and we’re going to have some pressure on us.”
The meet will begin at 6:30 p.m. CST and will be available to stream on SEC Network.
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Emily Porch is a senior from Sylacauga, Alabama. She joined The Plainsman in fall 2021.
Twitter: @emilycporch
