Despite achieving their highest all-around score of the year, the Auburn Tigers gymnastics team was unable to beat their rival, the Alabama Crimson Tide, on Friday night in Neville Arena. This loss marks the Tigers' sixth straight defeat against conference teams this year. In these games, their opponents have scored a 197 or higher in every meet. While the Tigers have been inconsistent, it seems that every team they face is having its best meet of the year. Auburn will head to Norman next Friday in hopes of securing its first conference win of the season.
Despite this being Auburn’s most consistent performance of the year, they were unfortunately outscored in every rotation on Friday night. Alabama was arguably even more consistent, achieving an impressive score of 49.525 in three of its four events. Auburn continued to show improvement on balance beam, earning a 49.350, which was tied with vault for the Tigers’ best event of the night. This meet was a sign of progress for Auburn, however. During their three meets at the 2026 Metroplex Challenge last weekend, the Tigers narrowly eclipsed 196 points. Improving their score by a point and a quarter in just one week is an impressive feat, but unfortunately, it still did not result in a win.
Junior Julianne Huff once again led the Tigers in the all-around while also earning a 9.925 on floor exercise, which was tied for the team’s highest individual score of the night. The other 9.925 was unsurprisingly scored by fellow junior Alex Irvine on uneven bars, an event in which Irvine has excelled all year. Sophomore Olivia Ahern also had a strong showing in her two events on Friday night, scoring a team-best 9.900 on balance beam and a 9.875 on floor exercise. Perhaps the best story for Auburn came on vault, where freshman Brynn Tory earned an impressive 9.875 in her first appearance in the lineup this season.
As for Alabama, the Crimson Tide’s final two rotations were exceptional; nine of their last twelve gymnasts scored a 9.9 or higher. Their most impressive individual performances, however, came during the first two rotations. Junior Chloe LaCoursiere posted scores of 9.9 in all three of her events, with her best performance coming on uneven bars, where she earned a 9.950. This would not be the only 9.950 on bars, however. Just one routine later, freshman Azaraya Ra-Akbar matched LaCoursiere’s score. Graduate student Jordyn Paradise made the most of her lone performance of the night, earning Alabama’s top vault score of 9.950 and extending the Crimson Tide’s lead over the Tigers.
SEC play has not gone the way Auburn had hoped, but the Tigers still have six meets remaining to make improvements. Be sure to catch the Tigers next Friday as they take on unranked Oklahoma on the road at 7:45 p.m. CT.
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Jonathan is a freshman majoring in industrial and systems engineering. He started with The Plainsman in the fall of 2025.
