Auburn gymnastics finished fifth in the SEC Championship with a score of 196.275. Auburn's ranking followed Alabama, LSU, Florida and Kentucky. The Tigers also placed individually during the event. Junior Derrian Gobourne placed tenth on the uneven bars. She also tied with senior teammate Drew Watson for ninth on floor. Sophomore Cassie Stevens placed seventh on the balance beam “[I’m] pretty happy with the fight of the team,” said head coach Jeff Graba. “I think our youth showed. We showed up and the first two events were a little bit skittish. Definitely, the first event wasn’t as good as we normally do it and then we rotated to beam and started to settle down.”
Auburn was awarded second in session two of the championship. The Tigers were preceded by Kentucky and followed by Missouri. Auburn was also supposed to compete against Georgia, however, the Bulldogs did not attend the meet after a gymnast tested positive on their team. This left events open during the rotations, two of which Auburn led on. “You don’t like to follow nobody,” Graba said. “We led off in two events that hadn’t judged anybody before and that’s usually a recipe for low scores. I feel like it was a disadvantage that Georgia wasn’t here for us, but for the most part, I was really proud of the team.”
The SEC Championship will count as a road score for the Tigers. With Auburn scoring a 196.100 against Missouri in the regular season, that will be replaced by the championship’s 196.275 to count toward its National Qualifying Score. “That in of itself is a huge accomplishment,” Graba said. “Typically the SEC tournament is not your best scores. The judges are trying to separate teams and they’re taking every deduction you give them. It’s the way you want it. You want to have to be at your best and separated. For us to break that 196.1 and bet it, that says a lot on a pretty rough night.”
The Tigers started on bars with sophomore Anna Sumner who picked up a 9.775 with a double layout dismount. Her classmates Adeline Sabados and Stevens also featured a double layout scoring 9.775 and 9.8. Gobourne anchored for the Tigers and scored a squad high of 9.85.
Rotation two set Auburn on the balance beam where they scored a 49.050. Gobourne competed on the beam for the first time since early in the regular season to put her back in the all-around. Gobourne pulled a 9.725. Auburn’s other all-arounder, Stevens, anchored and held the squad high with a 9.9.
After rotation two Auburn had bump itself into second place behind Kentucky and headed to perform on floor. The Tigers had a rocky start as sophomore Morgan Leigh Oldham took a tumble and scored a 9.050. However, that didn’t stop Auburn from coming back.
Sabados started the momentum early with a 9.825. After her routine Auburn only continued to thrive and push its scores up. Watson and Gobourne were the final two competitors for Auburn both scoring a 9.9. This gave Auburn a season-high tie of 49.350 on floor.
“We definitely survived and got better,” Graba said. “I think by the end of the meet we started to thrive. I do think it took us a while to get started, but it was really positive to see they can get started. This team doesn’t fold its tent and walk away. They were struggling and struggling and started to click then took off. I think that bodes well for their confidence moving forward.”
The final rotation put Auburn on vault where it began to ‘thrive.’ Freshman Payton Smith led off for Auburn with a 9.675. Stevens anchored for the Tigers producing the same score. In the middle Gobourne led the squad with a 9.85. Overall Auburn finished the event with a 48.900.
Gobourne and Stevens competed in the all-around for Auburn. This was Gobourne’s first time competing all-around as she added the balance beam to her normal lineup. Gobourne ended the night with a 39.325 leading the Tigers. Stevens finished her championship with a 39.250.
“Regionals is around the corner and we had to learn from this meet,” Graba said. “I do think that this team shows that they’re willing to and ready to do anything you ask them to do. I do think they’re going to learn a lot from this meet and get significantly better, but the learning curve is pretty steep right now. They’ve got a lot to do in the next two weeks so we’re prepared for the biggest meet of the year.”
Auburn will compete in the NCAA National Championship that will begin regional competition April 2, 2021.
*Article was first published with The Auburn Plainsman
*Photos belong to SEC
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