Auburn gymnastics’ 2024 season came to a close Friday, April 5, as the 14-seeded Tigers placed third in the California Regional with a 196.800. The 3-seeded California Golden Bears tallied a 197.800, and Stanford scored a 197.600 to advance to the regional finals this weekend.
Graduate student Cassie Stevens placed fourth in the regional all-around with a score of 39.550. Stevens scored a 9.900 on both floor and beam and collected a 9.875 on both vault and uneven bars.
The Tigers started the meet with a bang, taking an early lead after the first rotation on the floor. Arguably their best event of the season after averaging a floor NQS of 49.470, the Tigers scored a 49.550.
Senior Olivia Hollingsworth, graduate Aria Brusch and Stevens all earned a 9.900. Junior Sophia Groth and senior Gabby McLaughlin both tallied a 9.925 to round out Auburn’s floor rotation.
After a season in which vault and uneven bars were constant weaknesses, identical vault and uneven bar scores of 48.975 proved to be costly for the Tigers.
Auburn started out with two scores of 9.800 on vault, but three subsequent scores in the 9.7s dropped the Tigers to third after the second rotation.
After the midway point, Stanford and Cal widened the gap to almost a point ahead of the Tigers, leaving almost no room for Auburn to mount a comeback.
Auburn finished strong on beam, tallying a respectable 49.300.
Freshman Paige Zancan scored a career-high 9.900 to start off the fourth rotation. Hollingsworth collected a 9.750 and Groth tallied a 9.850.
Stevens and McLaughlin finished off the beam rotation with identical scores of 9.900.
With the two highest scores of the regional, Stanford and Cal will face 6-seed Denver and Arizona State in the California Regional final.
Even though the Tigers are out of the team competition, a few gymnasts may still have the chance to compete individually.
With Zancan, Stevens and McLaughlin scoring 9.900s on the balance beam, they could qualify as individuals for that event if both Cal and Stanford make it through to the national semifinal.
Similarly, Groth and McLaughlin’s 9.925s on floor are facing a similar fate.
In addition to her possible beam qualification, Stevens’ 39.550 in the all-around is also in the mix to receive an individual qualification.
Final spots for individual qualifiers will not be solidified until the national semifinals are set after the conclusion of the regional finals on April 6 through April 7.
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Emily Porch is a senior from Sylacauga, Alabama. She joined The Plainsman in fall 2021.
Twitter: @emilycporch
