Auburn gymnastics is moving on.
The Tigers placed second in the NCAA Auburn Regional with a score of 197.500 and will move on to Saturday’s NCAA Regional Final in Auburn’s own Neville Arena.
"We showed a lot of fight out there today,” said junior Cassie Stevens. “No one gave up. Everyone powered through."
Auburn finished .250 behind first place Kentucky, who will also move on to the round of 16. The meet’s two other teams, Georgia and Southern Utah, were eliminated from the postseason.
The Tigers started their day off on floor, where the team came out shaky.
Aria Brusch and Drew Watson each posted 9.775s to start. The second half of the rotation rebounded scoring wise, with a 9.850 from Stevens, a 9.9 from Sophia Groth and a 9.925 from Suni Lee.
Derrian Gobourne brought it home for the Tigers, as the aptly called “Queen” is one to do. Gobourne posted a meet-high 9.95 on floor to turn the tides on Auburn’s slow start.
After one rotation, Auburn was down to Kentucky by .025 points.
The second rotation for the Tigers saw them on vault, where the team scored a combined 49.350.
Again, the Tigers started things off rough as Lee fell during a warmup routine and came off the mats limping and in clear pain.
Head coach Jeff Graba said the freshman was not 100% after landing awkwardly.
“It hurts,” Graba said. “Physically, yeah, she landed bad. She is in a really good spot if we can keep her healthy."
The Olympian Lee managed to close out the vault for Auburn with a 9.825.
Stevens posted the meet’s second highest score on vault with a 9.925 and Watson nailed a 9.9. Gobourne put up a 9.85.
After two rotations, Auburn was still trailing Kentucky, but comfortably ahead of the two bottom teams.
On Thursday, it was not necessarily about winning the whole meet, but simply getting to the next round.
"I am really proud of the girls,” Graba said. “They worked really hard, fought really hard. You just got to survive and advance."
Third for Auburn was bars.
Lee, still clearly hurting from her awkward landing, spent most of the time Auburn was on bars in the locker room, but still managed to perform her routine.
And her routine was a stunner, garnering a perfect 10.0 score from a single judge, and earning a tied for meet-high 9.950.
Bars was Auburn’s worst routine of the day, however, earning a 43.00. Auburn needed the grit and drive from Lee to advance, and they got it.
“We don't give up for anything,” Stevens said. “We are going to power through any challenge or any obstacle."
Rounding out the day for Auburn was the beam, and Auburn came out shaky yet again.
Olivia Hollingsworth was first up, and midway through her routine had to save herself from falling. A fall at the end, with Southern Utah closing in late, could have eliminated Auburn’s chances at advancing.
Hollinsworth stayed up, however, and earned a 9.700.
Brusch followed with a 9.825 and Stevens with a 9.85.
Groth then threw in the meet’s second highest score on beam with a 9.95 and Auburn was back ahead, but still not by much.
With only Gabby McLaughlin and Lee to go, Auburn needed a solid showing from each girl to push the Tigers though.
McLaughlin finished her routine with a 9.875 that beat out Southern Utah, and the Tigers were qualified before Lee even got up on the beam.
That didn’t stop Lee from throwing out a 9.975 on the beam, good for the highest score on the day.
"We are a bunch of fighters,” Graba said. “We are capable. We control our destiny."
Lee, Stevens and Groth all placed in that order in the all-around category, following winner Raena Worley from Kentucky.
Auburn’s next meet will be on Saturday, April 2, against Kentucky and top two finishers from Thursday nights meet which consists of Florida, Denver, Ohio State and Iowa State.
When asked about what he will take away from Thursday’s meet, Graba was just happy he gets to coach his team once more.
"They were good enough to move on,” Graba said. “That is all that matters."
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