Sunisa Lee and Team USA win silver in team final
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.
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.”
Auburn gymnastics is headed to top-ranked Florida for its last road meet on Friday. "So my thought is, put us up against the top teams and we’ll show you that we deserve to be there," Graba said.
On Tuesday, the SEC announced that Auburn's Derrian Gobourne had been named the SEC Specialist of the Week after helping Auburn defeat Georgia last week.
No. 19 Auburn took home its first win of the season by a score of 197.050-196.100 against No. 12 Georgia. “I told the girls I was really proud of them,” said head coach Jeff Graba. “They did what we asked them to do all week which was start fast and to stay as a group, as a team.”
Auburn is headed into a top 15 matchup with Georgia on Friday after a season-high road score at Missouri. “I feel like the girls did a good job last weekend...[and] we’re on the right track,” Graba said. “Any time you can break a 196 on the road, it’s a good thing and we were pretty competitive mentally.”
Auburn gymnastics may have lost to Missouri on Friday, but Auburn still walked away with two event titles and a season-high road score in the loss.
“It was a great meet last Friday,” said head coach Jeff Graba. “I thought the energy level was really good. We’ve been pushing really hard to give a lot of opportunities for girls and I feel like it’s paying off now. We’re a pretty deep team and we’re a really talented team."
On Tuesday, Derrian Gobourne was named SEC Specialist of the Week following her performance against No. 2 LSU last Friday. She’s the first Auburn gymnast to earn a Gymnast of the Week honor this season.
“I’m pretty happy with the girls, we still have a lot of young people that are finding their feet out there, but I’m really proud with the way they handled it,” said head coach Jeff Graba. “First 197 in almost two years, pretty big deal for me."
“We took advantage of the bye week,” Graba said. “We did give them one day off and tried to let them rest up. We got some people back, partially back or hopefully on the way to getting fully back from being on the outside looking in. I think we’re stronger this week."
The Auburn and LSU gymnastics meet has been rescheduled for Feb. 5, the SEC announced on Friday. The meet was originally scheduled for Jan. 29 but was postponed because of COVID-19 concerns within the LSU program.