AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn gymnastics team moved up a spot this week in the national rankings to No. 17 per RoadtoNational.com. The weekly rankings are based on the team's average in overall score over the last five meets.
The Tigers return to the Plains for two-straight meets, starting with a 6 p.m. contest vs. No. 13 Kentucky Friday, Feb. 7. The two teams will face off in Auburn Arena on SEC Network.
"We have a quick turnaround this week," head coach Jeff Graba said. "I'm glad to see that we're holding strong in the rankings, but we do have some work to do in a short week. Kentucky will be a tremendous test for us and we need to perform at an extremely high level to be successful Friday."
This week's top five has Oklahoma (No. 1) and Florida (No. 2) separated by less than .200, while Utah, Denver and UCLA round out the last three spots.
The Tigers has steadily improved on beam, moving up to No. 7 with a 49.105 average. The team continues to climb up the ranking on vault and enter the week at No. 16 with a 49.030 average. Auburn reached a season-best 49.300 in the event at Georgia Sunday. The squad remains at 18th on bars (49.015).
Junior Drew Watson is 21st in the all-around with a 39.262 average and 26th on vault at 9.855. Sophomore Derrian Gobourne is tied for 19th on vault with a 9.865 average.