April 19, 2018
AUBURN, Ala. ââ'¬" Three members of the Auburn gymnastics team will compete as individuals at the 2018 NCAA Gymnastics Championship happening Friday, April 20, at the Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis.
Auburn's trio is the largest representation for any team bringing individual competitors to the national meet. Drew Watson is slated to compete in the all-around, while Abby Milliet will go on beam and Samantha Cerio will compete on bars.
"It's an honor and a real positive that this group gets to move on to the national championship," head coach Jeff Graba said. "It's not as fun to go without the team, but they need to go out there and make the best of it. It is always a challenge for an individual. However, I think this will really lay the foundation for next year's team."
Watson, a freshman from Tyler, Texas, qualified for the national meet after coming in fourth in the all-around at the NCAA Salt Lake City Regional with a career-best 39.425. Watson also captured the overall vault title in Utah, tying her career high with a 9.925. She'll be rotating with Alabama in the afternoon session.
"I'm really excited to represent Auburn and do my best this week," Watson said. "Having Abby and Samantha there with me will be incredibly helpful and I'm looking forward to the experience."
Milliet, a redshirt junior from Denton, Texas, secured a spot in the national meet after coming in a tie for first at the regional meet. Her 9.925 tied a career best. Milliet has been the team's leader in the event all season, winning at least the share of seven titles.
"The plan is to do what I do every single day in the gym," Milliet said. "It'll be nice having my two teammates and we're just going to lay it all out there."
Cerio, a junior from Huntersville, N.C., is competing on bars as an individual for the second-consecutive season. She finished in a tie for first at the national meet with a 9.9, marking the fifth 9.9 of the season and tying her season high.
"I'm really honored to represent Auburn again this year," Cerio said. "After having appendicitis in the middle of the season, it felt really good to come back and have a great showing at regionals."
Milliet will compete on beam with Nebraska, while Cerio is set to go with UCLA. Both will compete in the afternoon session.
For more information, head to championship central HERE.
For the latest on Auburn gymnastics, follow @AuburnGym on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AuburnGym.