No. 11 Auburn stays perfect with 'tough' win at No. 17 Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. – There was plenty of adversity Friday night, but the No. 11 Auburn gymnastics overcame that adversity and battled to a 196.125-196.000 win at No. 17 Kentucky for the first time since 2010 and remain undefeated (5-0, 4-0) on the season.
 
"We fought the entire way," senior Samantha Cerio said. "We fought for every landing. We fought for every handstand. We fought for every single detail that we could. And it wasn't our best night. It wasn't what we exactly wanted. But we kept the energy up. We just kept on trusting each other and staying as a team, and it ended up in our favor."
 
"Honestly, I was ecstatic about the meet," added Auburn head coach Jeff Graba. "It's a tough environment here. It's a tough road meet. There were a lot of changes, a lot of adversity, a lot of sickness, a lot of kids dinged up right now, and I'm just absolutely proud of the team."
 
Auburn rested senior Abby Milliet – a mainstay on bars, beam and floor – and they also pulled Taylor Krippner from vault, though the senior still competed on bars and beam.
 
Even without Milliet, the Tigers started strong on bars with a 49.325 – their second-highest score of the season on the event. Cerio led the way with a 9.925, which matched her career high, and four others – Krippner (9.875), Derrian Gobourne (9.875), Gracie Day (9.850) and Katie Becker (9.800) – all scored a 9.800 or higher.
 
Next up was vault where Auburn earned another strong score with a 49.225. Sophomore Drew Watson, who led off, earned a share of the individual title with a season-high 9.925. Next was Gobourne and sophomore Jada Glenn, who each posted a 9.875, followed by a 9.825 from Day.
 
For Auburn, it was the second-highest total on vault and bars (98.550) in the last three seasons.
 
"That was huge for us," Graba said. "We had some changes in those lineups, but those were pretty predictable changes. We sort of expected those two lineups to look like that, and we needed them to settle down."
 
The Tigers continued on floor where sophomore Ashley Smith went first and posted a season-high 9.800. The highest scores came from the two all-arounders, Watson and Gobourne. Watson earned a 9.875 while Gobourne added a full-in to her routine and finished with a 9.850. As a team, Auburn scored a 48.825.
 
The final event of the night was on beam, and it was the two bookends in the lineup that helped seal the victory for the Tigers. Watson led off with a 9.825, a new career high for her, and sophomore Meredith Sylvia closed the event with a clutch 9.850 to not only win the individual title on the event but also win the meet.  
 
It was only fitting that Watson and Gobourne shared the all-around title with a 39.350. One of the two has won or shared the all-around title in every meet this season.
 
Next week, Auburn will travel to No. 2 Florida for a battle of teams who are both still undefeated in the conference. The meet is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT on Friday and will be televised on SEC Network.
 
Next up for Auburn is another road meet at No. 2 Florida on Friday. The meet is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT and will be televised on SEC Network.