No. 11 Auburn Gymnastics returns to Neville Arena on Friday for its home opener against No. 9 Kentucky Gymnastics.
The Tigers scored a 196.6 in their season opener at the Super 16 Gymnastics Championships, the second highest season-opening score in program history.
"We have a really big match up this Friday against a really good Kentucky team," said head coach Jeff Graba. "We're just really excited to get in Neville Arena. This is what they all sign up for. I hope the fans show up, bring excitement and give us an edge. And that they get to know the team because this is going to be a fun team to follow."
In Auburn’s first meet of the season, it competed with a mix of returning gymnasts and new faces in its lineup. Olivia Hollingsworth, Cassie Stevens and Sophia Groth competed in the all-around competition of the Super 16, and Hollingsworth placed fourth in the competition with a score of 39.450.
Freshman Julianne Huff made her collegiate debut, and senior Sydney Schumaker competed in her first meet as an Auburn Tiger at the Super 16. Huff scored a 9.85 on floor and 9.8 on vault while Schumaker scored a 9.8 on vault.
The Tigers opening-meet lineup looked a lot different from last season without Suni Lee and Derrian Gobourne on the roster, and unlike early last season, is not set and stone. Auburn gymnastics is expected to experiment with its lineup early on in the season as it has a lot more depth than it did last season, adding 10 new gymnasts to its roster.
"It's important to have depth and we don't get a lot of opportunities to explore that depth throughout the year," Graba said. "I'm really trying to be cognizant to not deviate from learning my team in January. We added a lot of people to our team on purpose and are carrying a bigger roster just so that we don't run down that road of running out of people at the most critical moment. That just means that in January, you have to test them."
Kentucky gymnastics also opened its season at the Super 16 Gymnastics championships, competing against No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 14 Michigan State and No. 20 Michigan. The Wildcats placed second in their quad with a score of 196.775.
Kentucky Wildcat Raena Worley won the all-around competition in the team’s quad meet with a score of 39.625, setting a career-best on bars (9.975).
Much like the Tigers, Kentucky’s lineup in its season opener saw some seasoned competitors as well as some new faces. Fifth-year senior Worley won her 21st career all-around, and four freshmen made their collegiate gymnastics debut for the Wildcats.
Last season, Auburn gymnastics fell to Kentucky 197.675-196.450 on the road. The Tigers are 9-10 against overall and 6-4 at home against the Wildcats.
Auburn faces off against Kentucky at home on Friday, Jan. 12 at 7:30 p.m. CST. The meet 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.
