AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 17 Auburn gymnastics team is back home this week to kick off SEC play against one of the best teams in the country in No. 4 LSU. The meet is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 11, at 7:30 p.m. CT and will be televised live on SEC Network.
"I hope it's a big crowd," Auburn head coach Jeff Graba said. "We need all the help we can get. It's one of the best teams in the country, and our girls need the energy. I'm just hoping it's a great environment."
Though LSU has won back-to-back conference championships and is coming off an impressive 196.775 team score in its season opener against California, the Auburn players are treating it like any other meet. They laid a solid foundation in the preseason. This week has been about polishing up their routines and understanding that they can't come out with too much energy on Friday.
"I think the mentality kind of stays the same as the last meet," sophomore Drew Watson said. "We're all just trying to go out there and have fun. That's our main thing for this year. Keep calm and just be normal."
EVENT INFORMATION
Friday's meet will be Disney Night in Auburn Arena. Fans are encouraged to dress up as their favorite Disney character, and the first 800 fans will receive light-up Mickey Mouse ears.
The gymnasts will be passing out signed autograph cards at the exits following the conclusion of the meet.
PARKING INFORMATION
Fans should park in the Campus Safety Lot off Wire Road and Donahue Drive. The location is a quick walk to the main entrance of Auburn Arena.
Free parking is also available in the East Coliseum Lot as well as the Athletics Complex Deck.
AUBURN LINEUP VS. LSU
Auburn will once again showcase its depth and experience Friday against LSU. The tentative lineup, which only has a couple changes from the week before, features four seniors, three juniors, four sophomores and one freshman. (Lineups are subject to change prior to the meet).
The lineup changes include sophomore Ashley Smith joining the rotation on floor and Derrian Gobourne adding beam to join Watson as an all-around for the first time in her career. The freshman scored a 9.775 or better on the other three events – vault, bars and floor – in last week's win vs. Iowa. It will be the first time Auburn has had two all-arounders in the same meet since 2014.
The home Tigers will begin on vault where the same six gymnasts will compete. However, junior Katie Becker will be first to go and then Gracie Day, a 2018 All-SEC performer on vault, who secured a team-best 9.850 on the event last week. Senior A'Miracal Phillips follows as one of the top mainstays in the Tiger lineup with Gobourne going fourth. Watson, who also scored a 9.850 on vault last week, moves up to the fifth spot while sophomore Jada Glenn will serve as the anchor.
The second rotation was one of Auburn's strongest in the season opener and should be once again as the lineup remains the same on the bars.
Watson will lead things off for the second straight week and will be followed by senior Taylor Krippner and then Gobourne. Fellow senior Samantha Cerio, a two-time All-SEC performer and two-time NCAA qualifier on bars, is slated to go fourth. Then it's senior Abby Milliet and Day who will cap the scoring for the Tigers. All six gymnasts scored a 9.775 or better on the event against Iowa.
However, the strongest rotation from the first week was on beam – Auburn's third event of the night. The Tigers are ranked No. 4 nationally after putting up a 49.250 against Iowa. Meredith Sylvia led the way with a career-best 9.925, and the junior will once again serve as the anchor.
The two all-arounders, Watson and Gobourne, will kick things off for Auburn. For Gobourne, this will be her debut on the event. They will be followed by Krippner and Milliet in slots three and four, and then it will be Skyler Sheppard, who scored a 9.875 last week in her beam debut with the Tigers.
On floor, Auburn's final rotation of the night, Smith will return to the lineup and make her season debut for the Tigers. The sophomore led off the event in every meet last year.
Following Smith, it will be Cerio, Day, Gobourne and Watson in that order before Milliet caps off the event for the second straight week. Cerio earned a team-best 9.800 last week while Gobourne scored a 9.775 in her first floor routine at Auburn.
SCOUTING LSU
The LSU Tigers are coming off back-to-back SEC championships and have made the Super Six five of the past six years. This year, they're ranked No. 4 nationally after finishing with a 196.775 to beat California in their first meet.
LSU returns 20 routines from last year's team, including two national champions (Sarah Finnegan and Kennedi Edney), the reigning SEC Gymnast of the Year (Finnegan), seven All-Americans and eight All-SEC performers.
After the first meet of 2019, Finnegan earned SEC Gymnast of the Week honors after winning individual title on beam (9.95) and floor (9.95) as well as on all-around (39.675).
UP NEXT
Auburn will hit the road for the first time this season as the Tigers travel to Missouri on Saturday, Jan. 19. The two sides will face off at 1 p.m. CT in Mizzou Arena, and the meet will be streamed on SEC Network+.
Raising the bar: No. 17 Auburn to host No. 4 LSU in SEC opener
