AUBURN, Ala. – Senior Samantha Cerio of the Auburn gymnastics team was named the Southeastern Conference Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year for gymnastics, the league office announced Wednesday.
Cerio earned the program's sixth scholar honor from the conference. She joins Nicole Barnett (2006), Julie Dwyer (2007), Krissy Voss (2010) and Lauren Lane (2011, 2012).
"Samantha is the embodiment of what a student-athlete is," head coach Jeff Graba. "She does everything with a passion and dedication and really enjoys doing it. Sam is one of the best ambassadors for our sport in the history of our program and we are really proud of all she's accomplished so far."
Cerio, a Huntersville, N.C., product, owns a 3.48 grade-point average in aerospace engineering. She has earned SEC Academic Honor Roll recognition each year on campus. In addition, she has made the Dean's List and is a member of the National College Athlete Honor Society – Chi Alpha Sigma.
As an athlete, Cerio has been the team's top bars worker since she stepped on campus. This season, she has competed on bars in every meet with eight meets in the floor lineup. On bars, Cerio has recorded three scores of 9.9 on bars with a career-best 9.925 at Kentucky in January. She is among the nation's best with a 9.890 NQS.
In addition, Cerio has had success on floor this season with five scores of 9.8 or higher. She recently captured the event title last week vs. Air Force with a season-best 9.875.
For her career, Cerio has garnered multiple accolades for her performances. She has earned a spot on the All-SEC or SEC All-Freshman Team on bars every season. She has also represented the Tigers at the NCAA Championship on bars in back-to-back years.
Cerio and the Tigers kick off postseason this weekend, traveling to New Orleans for the 2019 SEC Championship. Auburn will compete in the afternoon session, starting at 3 p.m. CT in the Smoothie King Center.