The No. 17 Auburn gymnastics team finished third in its session of the 2024 Super 16 Challenge on Saturday, scoring a 196.600 to place the Tigers in front of No. 5 UCLA but behind No. 7 California and No. 8 Alabama.
The Tigers' 196.600 was the team’s second-best season-opening score in program history, only behind the 197.350 set in the same tournament last year.
“Overall, I feel like we just had a really good night,” said Auburn head coach Jeff Graba. “I’m really happy with the fight that this team showed. We have a lot of new people in new positions, but I really felt like they stayed focused throughout all four events. I think that is going to bode well for the future.”
Alabama and California finished with scores of 197.125 and 196.850, respectively, to place ahead of the Tigers while UCLA came in fourth place with a 196.550.
Olivia Hollingsworth, Cassie Stevens and Sophia Groth competed in the all-around competition, with Hollingsworth placing fourth in the all-around. She totaled 39.450 in the competition while Stevens recorded a 39.350 and Groth totaled 39.175.
“Our veterans stepped up and even though they are in new roles this year, I felt like they did a great job of settling everyone down and getting the ship back on course,” Graba said.
Auburn started the meet on the balance beam, scoring a 48.975 on the apparatus. Gabby McLaughlin and Hollingsworth led the way for the Tigers on beam, scoring a pair of team-high 9.850s.
The Tigers, however, picked up momentum after a slow start to the meet on beam, moving to rotation two on the floor. Auburn totaled a 49.250 in the rotation, led by a pair of 9.9s from Stevens and Hollingsworth.
“I’ve just been working hard and so I decided just to trust my training this year,” Hollingsworth said. “I know that I can score well and do my routines really well, so I just trusted myself tonight and it paid off.”
Freshman Julianne Huff contributed her first collegiate points on the floor, scoring a 9.85. Aria Brusch and Groth rounded out the apparatus, scoring a pair of 9.8s.
Rotation three moved the Tigers to the vault, where they scored a 49.050. Sara Hubbard scored a team-best 9.875 on vault, followed by three 9.8s from Auburn newcomer Sydney Schumaker, Huff and Hollingsworth.
The Tigers finished the meet on bars, totaling a 49.325. Stevens tied a career-high 9.925 on the apparatus while also managing a team best on the event. Hollingsworth managed a career-high 9.9 on the bar and Groth also added a 9.9 to the team's total score on bars. Brusch and McLaughlin both scored a 9.8 on the apparatus, contributing to Auburn’s best event of the meet.
“I thought it was a solid start to the season,” Stevens said. “I thought we definitely had those first-meet jitters, but that’s what this meet is for. We’re taking what we learn from this and build off of it as we head into the next meets.”
The Tigers head back to Auburn to take on No. 9 Kentucky at Neville Arena on Friday, Jan. 12. The meet will start at 7:30 p.m. CST and will be televised on SEC Network.
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Grace Heim is a junior from Enterprise, Alabama, majoring in English Literature. She started with The Plainsman in January 2023.
