No. 7 Auburn defeats No. 21 Kentucky in home opener
The seventh-ranked Auburn gymnastics team overcame a stumble to the finish to defeat No. 21 Kentucky 196.275-195.175 in its home opener.
The seventh-ranked Auburn gymnastics team overcame a stumble to the finish to defeat No. 21 Kentucky 196.275-195.175 in its home opener.
The Tigers moved up three spots from No. 10 after their season-opening win over No. 12 Oregon State on Sunday.
The 10th-ranked Auburn gymnastics team defeated No. 12 Oregon State 196.175-195.425 in Corvallis, Oregon on Sunday.
The Tigers are ranked 10th in the country in the Preseason National Coaches Poll, which is the highest preseason ranking Auburn has ever received.
The 2014-15 Auburn gymnastics attendance ranked 14th nationally among all NCAA women's programs. The Tigers recorded their first sellout in history and average 6,188 fans. Gymnastics ranked seventh out of 136 women's programs in the Southeastern Conference, putting them in the top five percent of the SEC.
On Tuesday, CollegeAD.com named three-time SEC Coach of the Year Jeff Graba, who led Auburn to the NCAA Championship Super Six this season for the first time in 22 years, one of the top 10 women’s gymnastics head coaches in the country. Auburn broke or tied 52 program records this year as junior Caitlin Atkinson and seniors Megan Walker and Bri Guy were named All-Americans, and six others earned All-SEC honors.
Auburn All-America gymnast Megan Walker was nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year honors and named to the Capital One CoSIDA academic all-district four team.
Now that Auburn gymnastics’ run to the Super Six for only the second time in program history is finished, the Tigers ended the season with 52 broken or tied records. Auburn scored the highest team total in program history (197.750) vs.
The eighth-ranked Auburn gymnastics team finished sixth at the Super Six, the national championship of gymnastics. No.
For only the second time in program history, No. 8 Auburn gymnastics advanced to the NCAA Super Six by placing third in their semifinal with a 197.075, a program record score at Nationals and the sixth-highest score in program history. The top three of the six teams competing would advance to the next round, and Auburn’s third place finish was just enough. No.1 Oklahoma placed first at 197.400, No.
For as long as I can remember, the SEC has boasted elite gymnastics programs. Teams such as Alabama, Florida, Georgia and LSU were annually in the top 10 and regularly advanced to the NCAA Championships. But Auburn was never in that conversation.
On the day before the Auburn gymnastics team travels to Texas for the NCAA National Championships, the team had one final practice in the McWhorter Center on April 14, followed by a short conference with coach Jeff Graba, Caitlin Atkinson and Bri Guy. “There’s a lot of energy in the gym, a lot of excitement,” Atkinson said. After placing second in the NCAA Regional on April 4 in Auburn, the Tigers earned one of the 12 possible spots in the national championship, a feat the program hasn’t achieved since 2003. Despite reaching the national championship for only the third time in 22 years, the Tigers insist that the gravity of the situation won’t overwhelm them. “I think everyone expects us to just go in there and explode, to just collapse,” Guy said.
No. 8 gymnastics performed above and beyond in front of a full house Saturday night, April 4, during the NCAA Gymnastics Championship in the Auburn Arena. The team totaled 196.900 overall, smashing the record for the highest regional total in the program’s history. “We talked all day about, ‘You have to fight for everything you get here,'” said head coach Jeff Graba.
Before she was an All-American at Auburn, and even before she was a national recruit as a teenager, Auburn gymnast Caitlin Atkinson knew she had the talent and the drive to become great. “I always kind of knew when I was younger because, even from the start, I always wanted to go more, always wanted to train more hours,” Atkinson said.
Auburn junior Caitlin Atkinson was selected as a first-team All-American on all-around, and senior Megan Walker was selected as a second-team All-American on beam by the National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches and Women. Atkinson, from Houston, Texas, ranked seventh nationally in all-around this season with a 39.535 average.
Auburn gymnastics coach Jeff Graba was voted SEC Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season and the third time in four years. Graba led the Tigers to a historic season that included several broken program records, including highest NCAA Regional seed, highest overall score and first sellout crowd of 7,424 in Auburn Arena. Graba also led Auburn to a win over Georgia, only the fourth in 80 meetings. The eighth-ranked Tigers finished fourth at the SEC Championship for the first time in the program’s history, and its RQS of 197.045 is a program record. Auburn scored a 197 or higher five times this season.
Auburn gymnastics held its No. 8 ranking as the regular season comes to a close, its highest final regular season ranking in program history. The Tigers also managed to raise its Regional Qualifying Score to 197.045, another program record. Auburn ranks eighth nationally on vault (49.345), 12th on bars (49.265), eighth on beam (49.315) and 10th on floor (49.315). Individual rankings of note include Caitlin Atkinson at seventh nationally in all-around and Megan Walker at 11th on beam. Up next for the Tigers is the NCAA Regional on April 4 at 6 p.m.
No. 8 Auburn gymnastics was selected as the No. 2 seed for the NCAA Regional in Auburn Arena on April 4.
By Andrew Monson Sports Writer Auburn gymnastics placed fourth at the SEC Championship with a program record 196.925 on Saturday, March 21 in Duluth, Georgia. The fourth place finish is the highest for Auburn at the SEC Championship since 1993. Alabama placed first with a 197.525, followed by LSU’s 197.450 and Florida’s 197.400. Auburn began on floor, scoring a 49.075.
Auburn finished on beam, where it scored a season-high 49.400 and were led by a 9.900 from Demers, Milliet and Megan Walker.