Auburn Gymnastics 🥇🥈🥉

[AUBwins 9,209]

No. 22 Auburn scores a season-high 197.075 Friday night

AUBURN, Ala. – It was a recording breaking night for the No. 22 Auburn gymnastics team as the squad set a season best Friday evening in Auburn Arena with a 197.075. No. 2 LSU took home the win with a 197.550.
 
"I'm really happy with the team tonight," head coach Jeff Graba said. "We still have a lot of young people that are finding their feet out there, but I'm really proud of the way they handled it. It's the No. 2 team coming in and we're hanging with them all the way until the end and we're still not at our full potential. I leave tonight thinking that we're really in a good spot. We just have to keep it up."
 
Auburn saw 18 routines either set or tie career or season highs. In addition, the overall team score was the first time the Tigers cracked 197 since the 2019 NCAA Regional Semifinal in Baton Rouge.
 
"That was a lot of fun and we would like to do it again," senior Drew Watson said. "I felt like we had a good plan and a good mindset going in and that's everything that we wanted. Now, we're motivated and excited."
 
Highlighting the night were event wins from junior Derrian Gobourne and freshman Gabby McLaughlin. Gobourne stole the night with an outstanding performance on floor in the anchor position, winning the event with a career-best 9.975. That included a perfect 10 from one judge. She also picked up the event title on vault with a 9.9.
 
"She's just amazing," Graba said. "She does everything that we ask her to do. She's selfless. She's sort of the spirit of the team right now and excels beyond belief in the moment and it's so much fun to watch."
 
McLaughlin earned the first event title of her career, taking home the beam crown with a 9.925.
 
In addition to individual performances, sophomore Cassie Stevens set a career high in the all-around with a 39.425. Classmate Piper Smith earned her first start in the all-around and put together a 38.700.
 
"I'm really happy with how Cassie (Stevens) did tonight," Graba said. "She hasn't competed in two and a half weeks and that's a little difficult to ask someone like that to go into the all-around and do all four events and manage their stamina and stay focused throughout the whole thing. I thought she did a really good job, but still has room to grow as well."
 
Auburn (0-4, 0-3 SEC) returns to the road for a meet at No. 27 Missouri, Feb. 12. The two Tiger teams will face off at 8 p.m. CT from Columbia and the meet will be televised on SEC Network.

Edited January 23, 2022 by AUBwins

[AUBwins 9,209]

Crazy at the difficulty of competition especially in SEC, scored over 197 and we are still 0-4 on the year.  Tourney selection goes by average scores throughout the year though, not necessarily who you won or lost against.  

[AUBwins 9,209]

Full highlights

https://youtu.be/T6EIe8LdowA

PS. The embed is giving an error. 

Edited February 7, 2021 by AUBwins

[AuburnNTexas 6,699]

This was this teams highest score they pushed the number 2 Team in the country and we had a few breakdowns on the floor exercises. These girls have gotten better from meet to meet. They are 0-4 but it does not tell the true story.  Team score will get them into the NCAA championships where I think they will be very competitive. These young ladies are very talented.

[AUBwins 9,209]

Mostly underclassmen i believe too 

[AUBwins 9,209]

Gymnastics picked up their first meet win with a 197 to 196 win over Georgia. War Eagle!

[Grumps 3,245]

3 minutes ago, AUBwins said:

Gymnastics picked up their first meet win with a 197 to 196 win over Georgia. War Eagle!

It is always great to beat the Gymdawgs. It looked like we might let UGA in it the way we started on the beam, but we finished well and then whupped them.

[AUBwins 9,209]

2 minutes ago, Grumps said:

It is always great to beat the Gymdawgs. It looked like we might let UGA in it the way we started on the beam, but we finished well and then whupped them.

Yep. Good one to get the first win on. One thing about Graba, he always has us improving from beginning of year. Hopefully we can start from a better spot next year with all these freshmen. 

[Grumps 3,245]

1 hour ago, AUBwins said:

Yep. Good one to get the first win on. One thing about Graba, he always has us improving from beginning of year. Hopefully we can start from a better spot next year with all these freshmen. 

As well as the freshmen are doing, I expect that we will be much better next year.

[ScubaSteve 194]

Plus add in Sunisa Lee next year.  Legit Olympic caliber gymnast.

[TD1 192]

Auburn lost to FL last night but had their highest road score of the season. Derrian had great night! 

[AUreo 728]

Auburn Gymnastics Recruiting:

Incoming:

Signed 5-star Sunisa Lee who will represent Team USA in Tokyo

Signed 4-star Sophia Groth

Signed 3-star Sarah Hubbard

2022 Commits:

3-star Hannah Hagle

3-star Hailey John

2023 Commits:

4-star Lyden Saltness

Source: https://collegegymnews.com/recruit-ratings/

[AUreo 728]

Future Prospects

2023 recruiting class

5-star Konnor McClain - Auburn, LSU, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Georgia, Clemson 

Konnor McClain mentioned these schools as her top choices, yesterday. She is a top contender for the 2024 Olympic team and close friends with Sunisa Lee.

[steeleagle 2,945]

On 7/8/2021 at 5:50 PM, AUreo said:

Auburn Gymnastics Recruiting:

Incoming:

Signed 5-star Sunisa Lee who will represent Team USA in Tokyo

Signed 4-star Sophia Groth

Signed 3-star Sarah Hubbard

2022 Commits:

3-star Hannah Hagle

3-star Hailey John

2023 Commits:

4-star Lyden Saltness

Source: https://collegegymnews.com/recruit-ratings/

Other than Sunisa, has Graba recruited at a high level? 

I'm just trying to understand if his recruiting has been good enough to elevate Auburn? In his 10+ years here Auburn has only made the Final or Semifinalist 2 times I think. 

[AUreo 728]

3 hours ago, steeleagle said:

Other than Sunisa, has Graba recruited at a high level? 

I'm just trying to understand if his recruiting has been good enough to elevate Auburn? In his 10+ years here Auburn has only made the Final or Semifinalist 2 times I think. 

Auburn is definitely rising but Graba's twin brother is Suni's elite coach in Minnesota, so that's the main reason why she is coming to Auburn (Sophia Groth seems to be a relatively highly ranked signee though). Suni is a program changer, of course. I think she will generate tons of publicity for Auburn's program. Lyden Saltness is another top elite-level commit, btw (also coached by Graba's brother Jess).

SEC recruiting is very tough, esp. Florida is currently out-recruiting everyone else in the nation (except UCLA, and maybe Utah), add LSU, UGA, Bama, Kentucky and Arkansas + Clemson soon. However, it seems like elite gymnasts are flocking to NCAA now (esp. with NIL), so the talent pool is also growing... 

 

[AUreo 728]

This is huge news: Auburn lands another 5-star elite gymnast. Olivia Greaves (Florida decommit) is now committed to Auburn:

https://collegegymnews.com/2021/07/21/five-star-olivia-greaves-commits-to-auburn-for-2023-season/

via IG:

livgreaves_

I’m so excited to announce that i have verbally committed to Auburn University on a full athletic scholarship! I wanna thank my family and coaches throughout this whole process, it’s been a crazy but great one. I’ve found my home, war eagle

 

 

 

 

[AUreo 728]

On 7/9/2021 at 12:50 AM, AUreo said:

Auburn Gymnastics Recruiting:

Incoming:

Signed 5-star Sunisa Lee who will represent Team USA in Tokyo

Signed 4-star Sophia Groth

Signed 3-star Sarah Hubbard

2022 Commits:

5-star Olivia Greaves

3-star Hannah Hagle

3-star Hailey John

2023 Commits:

4-star Lyden Saltness

Source: https://collegegymnews.com/recruit-ratings/

UPDATED

[AUreo 728]

On 7/15/2021 at 11:52 AM, AUreo said:

Future Prospects

2023 recruiting class

5-star Konnor McClain - Auburn, LSU, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Georgia, Clemson 

Konnor McClain mentioned these schools as her top choices, yesterday. She is a top contender for the 2024 Olympic team and close friends with Sunisa Lee.

Konnor McClain would be the next potential 5-star target. She mostly likes LSU and Auburn and is pretty close with Suni Lee and Olivia Greaves.

[AUBwins 9,209]

If we can get Konnor as well, this could finally be the turning point to become consistently elite.  What a core group that would be!

[blakem 275]

I believe us getting Suni is a game changer. What high level recruit wouldn’t want to compete with the best.

[AUreo 728]

52 minutes ago, blakem said:

I believe us getting Suni is a game changer. What high level recruit wouldn’t want to compete with the best.

This! 

“Lee could have an outstanding all around career in the NCAA. She will likely have an immediate impact on the bar, beam and floor lineups in particular. Some months ago, Lee revealed that she wishes to compete her Nabieva on bars at Auburn—she would be the first gymnast to perform that skill in college.”, source: College Gym News, https://collegegymnews.com/2021/07/20/previewing-ncaa-gymnastics-at-the-tokyo-olympics/ )

- - - - - -

Tavia: I’m most excited to see Sunisa Lee! I think her difficulty and form will be a good addition to the Auburn line up. I can’t wait to see which skills from her arsonal survive and make it into her college routines. Will we see a Nabieva in the NCAA? I sure hope so. I think her addition to the team will help to bring other high quality gymnasts to the Plains in the next few years as well. I can really see Auburn returning to its former glory in the coming seasons. The SEC just got that much more competitive, source: College Gym News, https://collegegymnews.com/2021/07/15/cgn-roundtable-olympians-and-the-ncaa/ )

 

 

 

 

[AUreo 728]

8 hours ago, AUBwins said:

If we can get Konnor as well, this could finally be the turning point to become consistently elite.  What a core group that would be!

It seems like Konnor is somewhat leaning LSU right now (scheduled to visit LSU in November 2021 after Worlds) but Auburn seems to be a close second (esp. now with Suni and Liv coming). Would be a major commitment for Auburn as Konnor generates a lot of hype and media attention already…she really is a top contender for Paris 2024. 
 

Konnor McClain, rising U.S. gymnast, focuses on 2024 Olympic cycle

https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2021/06/02/konnor-mcclain-gymnastics/

[AUBwins 9,209]

Maybe Sunisa will shine in Tokyo and it will push these recruitments to Auburn. 

[augolf1716 19,767]

5 minutes ago, AUBwins said:

Maybe Sunisa will shine in Tokyo and it will push these recruitments to Auburn. 

If she does her NILs will go thru the roof

[AUBwins 9,209]

Just now, augolf1716 said:

If she does her NILs will go thru the roof

I'd love it if her NIL tops Bama's Bryce Young. Possible being on the world stage.