April 18, 2015
By Ethan Brady
FORT WORTH, Texas -- No. 8 Auburn gymnastics finished its record breaking season with a program-high Super Six score of 195.625. The Tigers' sixth place finish was its highest nationals finish in 22 years and second-highest ever.
Auburn began the meet on the bars rotation and opened with a team total 49.250. All-American Megan Walker scored a career-high tying 9.925 to lead the Tigers.
"The experience was great for the team," head coach Jeff Graba said. "They grew a lot tonight. They learned how to be in the spotlight in one of these situations. They put themselves in amongst the top six teams in the country. I couldn't be more proud of the team."
On beam, the Tigers struggled and had to count a fall to earn a team total 48.425. Freshman Abby Milliet and Walker led the team in the event with scores of 9.825.
"It was a tough night for us," Graba said. "(All-American) Caitlin (Atkinson) dinged herself, and we had to pull her out of the last two events. MJ (Rott) wasn't full speed from last night. We only had about 18 hours to be ready for this and that took its toll. We put other people in, and they did a good job. You can't ask much more of a team to keep going out there and fighting. I was pretty happy with them."
Auburn had to count a 9.600 on floor and finished with a team total 48.875. The Tigers finished the meet on vault with a team total 49.075.
"We couldn't have been more excited to make it to this point," Walker said. "We've accomplished incredible things this year and making Super Six is something only the best six teams can say they made it to."
Auburn's program record Super Six score gives the Tigers 50 broken or tied records on the season.
"I don't know where to begin with this team," Graba said. "They broke records, then broke their own records, and it has just been such a wonderful year to be a part of this program. These girls have worked so hard and done so much. I can't say I've been prouder or any team I've been a part of."
No. 2 Florida won the national championship with a 197.850 while No. 3 Utah finished second with a 197.800 followed by No. 1 Oklahoma (197.525), No. 5 Alabama (197.275), No. 11 Stanford (197.250) and Auburn.
On Sunday, Atkinson will compete in the individual event finals on beam. Atkinson secured her position in the competition after scoring a 9.950 in the semifinal, the highest score of any gymnast.
The event finals at the Fort Worth Convention Center will be live streamed on ESPN3.com with the WatchESPN app at 2 p.m. CT.