ANAHEIM, Calif. – After a strong finish to last season, the No. 13 Auburn gymnastics team kicks off a promising 2020 at the competitive Collegiate Challenge in Anaheim, Calif., at the Anaheim Arena.
The Tigers will compete in the afternoon session at 3 p.m. CT, facing off with No. 7 Denver, No. 21 Arizona State and No. 25 Penn State. Competing in the evening session will be No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 4 UCLA, No. 9 California and No. 22 Stanford.
"We've talked a lot about starting the season off on a good foot," head coach Jeff Graba said. "We have quite a few young people on our team this year and many of them will be in critical roles early. I think it is essential that they learn on the job very quickly and this meet, with all the competition it brings, will provide a great opportunity to grow under pressure."
AUBURN LINEUP
A handful of Tigers will get experience to start the new season as the Collegiate Challenge will provide a great opportunity for Auburn as the event will be held on the podium.
Auburn will kick off the four-team session on bars, having a variety of experienced returners with newcomers in the lineup. Senior Katie Becker is down as leadoff, which is a familiar spot for the Boone, N.C., product who has 20 starts under her belt. A pair of freshmen follow in their first-career starts - Adeline Sabados and Aria Brusch.
The opening rotation closes out with a trio of big routines as junior Drew Watson, senior Gracie Day and freshman Derrian Gobourne are set to compete.
The Tigers follow on beam, opening with a senior and closing with a senior. Fifth-year Emma Slappey returns to the beam lineup after totaling 27 starts her first two seasons. Fellow fifth-year Skyler Sheppard, who has a career-best 9.875 on the apparatus, will anchor the event.
Brusch is slated to go second with Watson following. Freshman Morgan Leigh Oldham will get her first start and junior Meredith Sylvia will go fifth. Sylvia, who has competed in every meet in the event so far in her career, has a pair of 9.925s under her belt.
Rotation three brings the Tigers to floor with four returners and two freshmen in the lineup. Slappey once again leads things off and brings the most experience, competing in 32 meets during her career. Day is back in the Auburn lineup, while freshman Cassie Stevens makes her debut in the Orange and Blue. Brusch is slated to compete in her third event of the day and Sheppard follows in the fifth slot. Gobourne is set to anchor with her powerful and fun routine.
Vault is the final event for the squad and three of the six will compete vaults with a 10.0 start value to start the season. Sheppard, and junior Jada Glenn are down for the first two slots with Day following at third. Stevens will follow in the fourth slot, while big vaulters Watson and Gobourne will close out the day.
A DECADE OF GRABA
The 2020 season marks the 10th with head coach Jeff Graba. The program's leader arrived on the Plains prior to the 2011 season and brought the Tigers to another level on the national stage.
For his efforts over the past nine seasons, the Minnesota native was named SEC Coach of the Year in 2014 and 2015 and SEC co-Coach of the Year in 2012.
Recently, Graba helped coach the program's first national champion in Derrian Gobourne (2019 - vault). In addition, the Tigers score the program's best regional score in 2019 and had its best SEC regular season last year as the squad came in second prior to postseason action.
He has led his student-athletes to 13 All-America honors (both NACGC/W and NCAA) and 16 All-SEC recognitions. Leading the way was Caitlin Atkinson, who amassed nine All-America nods and was named SEC Gymnast of the Year in 2016.
With the help of continuous progress, Graba and the Tigers have enjoyed growth when it comes to home attendance each season. Each season, the team's attendance average has climbed higher and higher and after averaging just 3,583 fans in his first season, Auburn finished 2018 with an average of 6,334. That marked ranked seventh nationally. In addition, the Tigers have enjoyed nine sellouts of Auburn Arena (7.424).
Away from competition, Graba's teams have also been outstanding in the classroom. In total, the Tigers have totaled 53 NACGC/W Scholastic All-America nods and 100 SEC Academic Honor Roll recognitions.
UP NEXT
Auburn kicks off its home slate vs. in-state rival Alabama, Jan. 10, at 8 p.m. CT in Auburn Arena.