Feb. 20, 2017
AUBURN, Ala. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" In the first week of Regional Qualifying Score rankings, the Auburn gymnastics team stands 14th with a team average of 196.015.
"It's good to see that we've moved up after our big meet last Friday," head coach Jeff Graba said. "RQS is now in play and we need to keep improving. It seems that every meet gets more important this time of year. We have No. 2 LSU coming to town Friday and I think it's obvious we need to bring our A-game."
Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) will determine rankings for the remainder of the season. RQS is determined by the team total average with its home meets and three highest away meets, as well as dropping the team's highest score. The same ranking goes for individuals with their high score dropped and at least three away scores counted.
The top five slots have been mixed up slightly now that RQS is in play. Oklahoma (197.890), LSU (197.655), and Florida (197.435) remain in the top three, while Alabama jumped to spots to No. 4 (197.085) and Utah is fifth (196.965). UCLA, Georgia, Denver, Michigan, and Oregon State are Nos. 6-10.
The Tigers rank in the Top 20 in all four events this week. Auburn is No. 11 on bars (49.130) and tied for 14th on floor (49.055). The squad is 18th on vault (48.980) and tied for 18th beam (49.010).
Auburn return to The Plains for another SEC meet in Auburn Arena, hosting No. 2 LSU. Auburn and the Bayou Bengals are set to square off at 7:30 p.m. CT Friday, Feb. 24, on SEC Network.
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