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A spirit that is not afraid

Auburn gymnastics advances to national championships

<p>Derrian Gobourne celebrates with chalk-filled hands after competing on bars during the NCAA Women's National Gymnastics Sweet 16 in the Neville Arena in Auburn, Alabama.</p>

Derrian Gobourne celebrates with chalk-filled hands after competing on bars during the NCAA Women's National Gymnastics Sweet 16 in the Neville Arena in Auburn, Alabama.

Hosting its own regional meet, Auburn gymnastics stood strong to earn their spot at the national championship competition. The Tigers finished the meet with a final score of 197.775, second behind a top-scoring 198.775 from Florida. 

“Anybody can beat anybody when it’s this format and that was proven this weekend,” said head coach Jeff Graba. “I was proud of them. They started out in the hole but they became themselves going to beam and never looked back.”

As the host institution, Auburn drew a large home crowd that brought major momentum and energy. They sent out this group of seniors in style for their last home appearance. 

“I feel like sometimes we take for granted the energy the crowd gives us. We don’t do this by ourselves,” said senior Derrian Gobourne. “Yes, the gymnastics, but hearing the crowd chant “It’s great to be an Auburn Tiger,’ that’ll just send chills up your body.”

With the four-team meet format, Auburn’s rotation was not the same as it would be during the regular season. Their first rotation was bars, then beam, floor and then vault to end things. All four teams were competing simultaneously. 

Auburn opened on bars and struggled initially to get things going. Gobourne led the team with a 9.900 and Suni Lee, usually a high scorer, had to have hers dropped after hitting the bar with her feet. The Tigers finished the rotation with a 49.450, leaving the team in dead last as they moved to beam.

“You just never know what happens with the other team. I feel like we were really good at just staying in our bubble,” Gobourne said. “It could’ve been worse, but we fought and we moved on and we did fantastic on beam.”

Auburn rallied together for their second event, with just two scores below a 9.900 and Lee throwing down another 10.0. Sophia Groth was right behind her with a 9.950.

With that strong recovery and a drop-off from Kentucky, Auburn soared into second place and would not relinquish its spot for the remainder of the night. Moving on to their usual closer, the floor routine, Auburn had secured the place it needed but had no room to falter either. 

Groth continued to come in clutch for the Tigers, earning a 9.900 to balance out some lower scores. Lee earned a 9.950 and Gobourne a 9.975, both which the crowd protested should be higher. 

After the third rotation, Auburn was firmly in second place, but Kentucky was within half a point, so the Tigers had no room for major error. 

“I knew [Kentucky] had to beat us by over four tenths, so if we put up a 49.300, it would be really difficult,” Graba said. “If you’re doing the math, all Drew [Watson] has to do is nail a decent vault and we’re going.”

Fifth-year senior Drew Watson went out in style, throwing a program-record 9.975 on vault in her last rotation in Neville Arena. That let some pressure off Lee, who anchored the rotation and the night with a 9.875.

“Jada [Glenn] came up and that’s my person and I was like ‘I got this. Don’t worry about it,’” Watson said. “I felt it from warmups…I was hungry.”

Lee, Groth and Cassie Stevens competed in the all-around for Auburn, but Florida powerhouse Trinity Thomas threw down two 10.0s to earn the individual award. 

“It was a fight. We fought from the very beginning and I’m just so proud of this team,” Watson said. “It’s just so special and I’m just so happy.”

The top two teams, Florida and Auburn, will now advance to Fort Worth Texas, for the “Elite Eight” semifinal competition on April 14. Kentucky’s Raena Worley, the highest all-around competitor on a non-advancing team, has also qualified. 

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Callie Stanford | Sports Editor

Callie Stanford, junior in communications, is the sports editor at the Auburn Plainsman. Currently a junior, she has been with The Plainsman since January 2021.

Twitter: @Stanford1Callie


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