Jan. 13, 2015
Quoting Auburn head coach Jeff Graba
On practice this week
"They were great. They've been in great in practice before that meet and after that meet. I think it's hard for us as a staff, and we've talked about this for a bit, for us to approach Bri Guy as being a freshman because she relearned everything in gymnastics. I think our leadership, our seniors, I just wasn't aware of how emotional it was going to be to have Bri back. It was the first meet jitters, and we had some real positive things and some hiccups that we don't like to see. They've adjusted really well. We'll be fine."
On improving this week
"I'm anticipating they'll be fine. Everything we've done here, they've handled it really well. Typically this group and most gymnastics teams are going to start a little bit slow. You can't simulate the stress that you're under in a meet environment, and we're throwing a lot of difficulty into our routines. We have high risk routines, so the number and amount of pounding you can give the girls we don't have as much as other teams because of our difficulty level. Our first meet is always going to be a little of a stress ball, and I wasn't happy with our upperclassmen who have been there before. I was unaware of how Bri was going to affect them and the first meet jitters. The girls are probably going to settle down. They love competing against Florida in the SEC. I think our girls will handle that environment better than they did the first meet of the year."
On the environment at Florida
"I think the competition environment is a big part of it. No matter who you go against in your first meet, it takes that meet to get your feet wet. I think it's a little bit of everything. Our gymnastics, we try to throw everything on the table and see where we end up. A lot of times that matches up well against really aggressive teams like Florida. When you go up against a top ranked team and you're the underdog, I think it brings out the best of you.
"I think our team is a good chaser. I think we're really good at trying to catch people and maybe being the underdog a little bit. Not many teams are good at being a frontrunner, but I do think going against Florida, you let it all hang out and you're in front of thousands of people and we'll be on live television. Honestly, I think it will bring out the best of our girls."
On the first live televised meet in SEC history
"I'm really excited about it. I think it's going to be awesome for our sport and fantastic for our fans. It's going to be a bit of a rollercoaster the first meet. We've been involved in a lot of television meets, but the fact that it's live, and we're working on a different time frame and time crunch it's good and bad for us. It's bad because we've never been through it before, but good because we'll get through it before we go through it again later in the year. It's going to be an absolutely exciting experience."
Quoting Senior Megan Walker
On this week's meet
"We love going to Florida. They have a great environment, so many fans and obviously their gymnastics is incredible, too. It really raises the level of competition."
On the meet's environment
"I think it's kind of new right now. We have a lot of freshmen, and they have no idea what's coming at them when we go into SEC territory. It's more exciting than usual with all those fans on top of you. All of us who are returners know. We know what's coming. We love being in Auburn Arena because everyone is rooting for us. When you go to an away team, it's also super exciting because everyone is against you. It doesn't really matter because there's lots of energy, and it gets us pumped up and ready to go."