Auburn gymnastics looks forward to first SEC road matchup against Arkansas
Auburn gymnastics ready for first SEC road test against Arkansas on Friday.
Auburn gymnastics ready for first SEC road test against Arkansas on Friday.
“This is the best first meet we’ve had in quite some time,” said Auburn head coach Jeff Graba. “Score-wise, it’s one of our best in history.”
Auburn will take on North Carolina and Bowling Green on Friday, to open the 2022 regular season.
Auburn gymnastics will open its year ranked No. 14 in the nation, the Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association announced Friday.
Suni Lee’s first appearance in Auburn Arena was an energetic return to full capacity and a tone-setter for the team’s season.
Auburn gymnast and Olympic gold medalist Suni Lee told Pop Sugar that she was recently pepper sprayed in an anti-Asian attack while out with friends.
Auburn gymnastics announced its 2022 schedule including five home meets.
The summer of Suni continues as she won her third Olympic medal on Sunday. The Saint Paul, Minnesota, native won the bronze medal in the uneven bars final with a score of 14.500.
Following Sunisa Lee’s gold medal victory in the individual all-around at the Tokyo Olympics, Auburn head coach Jeff Graba is excited for the future.
Two Olympic events down, two medals for Sunisa Lee. This time, she was golden as the 18-year-old gymnast won gold in the individual all-around final on Thursday. Along with the gold, Lee and her teammates won silver in the team final on Tuesday.
Sunisa Lee and the other members of Team USA won silver in Tuesday’s team final with a score of 166.096. Russia won gold with a 169.528 and Great Britain took bronze with their 164.096.
The Auburn Family has a lot to look forward to this summer, with former, current and future Tigers competing in this year's Summer Olympics and Summer Paralympics.
Auburn gymnastics has earned the No. 15 seed and will compete at the Tuscaloosa Regionals, announced by the NCAA on Monday. “It’s very exciting to be able to go to regionals,” said junior Derrian Gobourne. “We didn’t get that chance last year and this is a very talented team so I’m very excited. You never know what could happen.”
Auburn gymnastics finished fifth at the SEC Championship with a score of 196.275. "We definitely survived and got better," Graba said.
“First things first, we have to survive the SEC Championship meet,” Graba said. “We have to try to thrive at the SEC Championship meet. If we do the thriving, we are set up really well for postseason. If we survive and learn a lot of things, we’re still set up for a really good postseason."
Auburn gymnastics is seeded sixth heading into the SEC Championship. The competition will take place in Huntsville, Alabama, on March 20. The Tigers will compete in the second section which begins at 2:30 p.m. CST on SEC Network.
No. 12 Auburn produced another season-best in its season finale loss to No. 8 Arkansas, 197.425-197.125. “I think we proved we’re a top-10 team and we can compete with anybody in the country,” Graba said. “We’re the youngest team in the country and we’ve had the toughest schedule in the country."
Auburn gymnastics heads into its final meet of the season with the memories of last season’s ending on its mind. It was a year ago this week that Auburn gymnastics fell into the cycle of canceled events due to COVID-19.
Sunisa Lee is not only a hardworking and talented gymnast, she's also a teenage girl who faced struggles and challenges in the last year. She's already a favorite for the Olympics this summer, and this fall, she'll also become an Auburn Tiger.
“The crazy thing is that we are definitely one of the youngest teams in the country,” Graba said. “If we do it right this year, we’re going to be good for years to come. We’re so excited to see this young team continue to blossom and establish a strong foundation for us.”