No. 14 Gymnastics Closes Out Regular Season with Win Over BYU

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No. 14 Auburn gymnastics defeated the BYU Cougars, 195.950-192.575, Friday night in the Auburn Arena in the final regular season meet of the season.

“It was a good effort and the girls worked hard,” Auburn head coach Jeff Graba said. I’m not happy about how the meet went. I don’t think we did a very good job tonight. We looked a bit sloppy. We just didn’t look sharp tonight. Obviously, you can go through the list, losing Kylie for all but two events. You take a leader out and put some other in, and we didn’t look good. We didn’t look great, we just looked alright.”

Senior Kylie Shields competed in just two events as the staff attempted to keep her fresh for next week’s SEC meet.

Auburn led off the evening on vault, posting a solid score of 48.925. Freshman Bri Guy led the scoring with a 9.850, followed by junior Toi Garcia with a 9.825. Senior Allyson Sandusky and junior Petrina Yokay each posted scores of 9.775, while Shields added a 9.700.

BYU opened with a rough start on bars, as it had to count two falls in the event. The Cougars finished the first rotation at 47.500.

As the Tigers moved to bars, Sandusky posted a 9.900 and Guy added a career high 9.850 to help Auburn to a 49.200 in the event. Sophomore Abbey Habicht and freshman Megan Walker each earned scores of 9.825, and Yokay posted a 9.800.

 

The Cougars recovered on vault and earned a solid 48.550, but Auburn kept the lead by more than two points going into the second half of the meet.

Auburn continued a strong showing on beam in the third rotation, posting a 48.850. Yokay tied her season and career high with a 9.850, while Habicht and Walker each posted scores of 9.825. The mark set a new career high for Walker. Sandusky earned a 9.750, while Kadous rounded out the group with a career high 9.600.

The Tigers kept the lead, while BYU struggled on floor with a 47.675.

In the final rotation of the evening, the Tigers finished strong with a 48.975 on floor. Garcia tied her season high for the sixth time this year with a 9.875, while Webster posted a 9.825. Kadous and Guy each added scores of 9.775 and Yokay finished with a 9.725 in only her third floor appearance of the season.

“I like Brittany’s floor,” Graba said. “On her vault she didn’t score well, because you took a big step, but we’ve been trying to vault bigger and quit worrying about toning it down. I thought Brittany Webster did probably the best job of doing what we are asking her to do.”

BYU finished with its highest event score of the evening, earning a 48.850 on beam.

The Tigers took home titles in three of the four events, as well as the all-around. Guy finished first on vault, Sandusky on bars and Garcia on floor, while Yokay took home the all-around title in her second all-around performance of the season with a 39.150.

It was also Senior Night, as the Tigers recognized Sandusky, Shields, Justine Foster, Kareen Kaveh, Laura Lane, Kendall Swartz and Leah Vining for their achievements and contributions to the team throughout their time at Auburn.

“We are just so appreciative of all these seniors have meant to this program,” Graba said. “They have been huge contributors in so many ways throughout their careers and to cap things this season they have been outstanding role models for our large freshman class. We really can’t thank them enough and I look forward to seeing them compete over the remainder of the season.”

Auburn is in action next on March 24 at the 2012 SEC Gymnastics Championships in Duluth, Ga.