AUBURN, Ala. – With the 2020 season less than a month away, the Auburn gymnastics team got a taste of competition at its annual Preview Meet Friday in Auburn Arena.
"It was good to get the rust off tonight," junior Drew Watson said. "We've been training really hard and it's great to get the feel of a meet again."
Head coach Jeff Graba, in his 10th season with the program, saw a lot of positives from his experienced group of upperclassmen. In addition, he put six freshmen – Aria Brusch, Morgan Leigh Oldham, Elise Panzner, Adeline Sabados, Piper Smith, Cassie Stevens – in the lineup to help the talented group get a taste of the college atmosphere.
"I think our freshmen did really well," Graba said. "I think they were starting to run out of gas towards the end of the night as the adrenaline wore off, but that's part of the process. It's good that we got out here in front of our fans and I'm encouraged by what I saw tonight."
In addition, five Tigers were placed in the all-around. Along with last year's dynamic duo of Watson and now sophomore Derrian Gobourne, senior Gracie Day and freshmen Brusch and Stevens put together full meets.
"We have a lot of depth right now," Graba said. "We had five people do the all-around and it's really encouraging to know we can trust all five with that responsibility. Having these options will give us the opportunity to rest people when we need because the whole season is a grind. We have some really good athletes out there that we'll be able to put in the lineup."
Day, who has been a three-rotation gymnast the past three years, got a chance to debut her beam routine for the first time in front of the Auburn faithful.
"It was definitely different being in the beam lineup, but it was so exciting," Day said. "Once I got on the beam, it felt like practice and was a lot of fun."
The Tigers host five meets in Auburn Arena this season with four against the SEC. The squad kicks off its home slate against in-state rival Alabama at 8 p.m. CT, Jan. 10.
"I'm looking forward to having so much fun with this team and enjoying the process of getting to where we want to be at the end," Day said.
"The energy was great tonight," Gobourne added. "It's so much fun when everyone is having a great time. I'm looking forward to this season because I think we can do big things."
In addition to Alabama, Auburn hosts Missouri (Jan. 24), Kentucky (Feb. 7), Florida (Feb. 14) and Texas Woman's (Feb. 28). Season tickets for the 2020 season are currently available through the Auburn Ticket Office. For more information, please go online at www.AUBTIX.com.
Auburn kicks off the season at the Collegiate Challenge in Anaheim, Calif., Jan. 4. The Tigers will go head-to-head with UCLA, Cal, Oklahoma, Stanford, Denver, Arizona State and Penn State.