No. 16 Auburn Ready for NCAA Salt Lake City Regional

April 5, 2018

No. 16 Auburn at NCAA Salt Lake Regional

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MEET

AUBURN, Ala. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" The No. 16 Auburn gymnastics team is ready for the 2018 NCAA postseason, taking part in the NCAA Salt Lake City Regional, April 7, in the Huntsman Center.

"We're going to be the lone team there that hasn't competed at the Huntsman Center and it's going to be a challenge," head coach Jeff Graba. "It's going to be a sold-out situation in front of a crowd that has a fantastic gymnastics knowledge. It is also a very tight environment with a lot of people packed on a small floor. It's more of a mental game at this point and if you make a mistake, you don't move on."

The Tigers will be joined by No. 1 seed and host Utah (No. 4 overall), while No. 9 California secured the No. 2 seed. This will be the second-consecutive season Auburn will face the Utes and the Bears in the regional meet. Also competing will be BYU, Stanford, and Southern Utah.

The top two teams from each of the six regionals will advance to the NCAA Championships, April 20-21, in St. Louis at Chaifetz Arena.

AUBURN LINEUP
The Auburn lineup is full of youth against Alabama as 14 of the 24 routines will come from five freshmen and four sophomores.

After a first round bye, Auburn will open up on floor where the team will feature a youthful floor squad with two freshmen, two sophomores, and two juniors. Freshman Ashley Smith leads off for the 13th-straight meet and will be followed by junior Samantha Cerio and freshman Drew Watson. Redshirt sophomore Emma Slappey and sophomore Gracie Day will follow and redshirt junior Abby Milliet will anchor. Day is tied for 15th in the Central Region (9.88), while MIlliet is among the nation's best at 9.895. Milliet earned a career-high 9.95 and the event title against Alabama to close out the regular season.

Auburn follows on vault and is led by Day, Watson, and freshman Jada Glenn. The trio are capable of putting together three-straight 10.0 vaults for the squad. Day has captured three event titles this year and ranks in the Top 25 nationally with a 9.89 RQS. Watson is tied for 28th in the nation with a 9.885 RQS. The duo recently came in a tie for second overall at the SEC Championship as both reached a career-high 9.925. Glenn has anchored the event all season for the Tigers. Sophomore Katie Becker will lead off with juniors A'Miracal Phillips and Taylor Krippner following. Phillips set a season-best at LSU with a 9.825, while Krippner reached a career-best 9.9 in February.

The Tigers go into another bye in the fourth rotation before going to bars. Watson will lead off with sophomore Kendal Moss and Krippner following. Day is set to go fourth and is in the Top 15 in the Central Region in the event with a 9.875 RQS following a career-best 9.95 at the annual Elevate Meet. Cerio is set to go fifth for the squad. The Huntersville, N.C., product has a team-best four titles in the event and is in the Top 10 regionally with a 9.890 RQS. Milliet is slated to anchor Auburn and is among the Top 15 regionally with a 9.87 RQS.

The final rotation is beam where four of six Tigers are among the Top 25 in the Central Region. Freshman Allie Riddle will lead off once again with Cerio going second and classmate Meredith Sylvia going third. Riddle is tied for 24th regionally, having a 9.835 RQS. Slappey follows, while Milliet and Krippner will close out the rotation. Milliet is among the nation's best in the event, ranking tied for 24th with a 9.9 RQS. That mark is also tied for sixth in the region. Krippner holds a 9.87 score and is tied for 15th regionally, while Slappey is at a 9.845 and 21st in the Central region.

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