After a historic season for the No. 6 Auburn, the Tigers are preparing to take their shot at the 2022 Southeastern Conference Championships meet in Birmingham, Alabama.
Auburn has earned a three seed and will compete in Session II alongside Florida, LSU and Alabama. This will be the first time that Auburn will compete in the night session since 2016. The Tigers will begin on beam and rotate to the floor, then vault and end on the bars.
The Tigers are ranked nationally in each event, with no ranking lower than six. In fact, they will start on the event that they are ranked the highest on, being number four nationally on balance beam.
Even though no lineup is ever set for head coach Jeff Graba’s squad until after warmups are complete, fans still have a general idea as to who will be in the running to compete.
On the balance beam, the Tigers have anchored the rotation with solid beam workers in freshmen Sunisa Lee and Sophia Groth, with Lee being tied for first in the nation on the balance beam and Groth ranked seventh.
Other regular faces include Gabby McLaughlin, Olivia Holligsworth, Aria Brusch and Cassie Stevens. However, since this lineup is not set in stone, fans may see other faces, including Piper Smith and Morgan Leigh Oldham. All gymnasts bring a huge potential scoring value to the table.
Auburn will then rotate to the floor, where it is ranked sixth in the nation. It also has the tie for the highest rotation score in the season on this apparatus with a 49.800, which it earned in its meet against Florida.
Once again, there is a lot that Graba can do with this lineup. The floor anchors in Lee and Derrian Gobourne have worked for Auburn all season, including Groth, Stevens and Drew Watson. Fans may also catch a glimpse at Sara Hubbard, Brusch or Hollingsworth.
Vault is where Auburn may have a weaker rotation, if being tied for fifth in the country is a weak event. But this is the rotation that the Tigers have really worked on to improve this season and it has been the one event that Graba has put emphasis on for improvements and upgrades.
Both Gobourne and Lee have anchored this rotation before, with Gobourne being the 2019 national champion on this event. Other faces have included Watson, Stevens, Groth, Tara Walsh, Jada Glenn and Hubbard, who fans have seen in the lead-off spot several times this season.
Auburn will finish up the meet on bars, where it is ranked fifth in the nation. This rotation will once again be anchored by Lee and Gobourne. Gobourne has scored 9.9 or better in three straight meets, while Lee is tied for first in the nation and has also scored a 10 on this event.
Several other gymnasts that will possibly be seen are Brusch, Groth, Stevens, Watson, McLaughlin and Adeline Sabados, who has been the lead-off for the majority of the season.
This meet will be a mental challenge for the Tigers.
Other than Michigan, who they faced last weekend, every other team that they have lost to will be in this session. They split their competitions with Alabama, lost to LSU and tied with Florida. However, Auburn is more than capable of hanging in this meet and potentially winning it.
Session II will begin at 7p.m. CST and will be broadcasted on SEC Network. After the conference championships are over, Auburn will be the host to one of four NCAA Regional Championships. The teams and locations for these regionals will be announced on March 22.
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Emily Porch is a senior from Sylacauga, Alabama. She joined The Plainsman in fall 2021.
Twitter: @emilycporch
