AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 18 Auburn gymnastics team continues its road swing and heads to rival and No. 10 Alabama for a Friday night meet, Jan. 22. The Tigers and the Crimson Tide will face off at 7:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network in Coleman Coliseum.
"We're always excited for this meet whether it is at home or on the road," head coach Jeff Graba said. "There is nothing like going up against your rival and this year won't be any different. Despite the smaller crowd, the pressure is still going to be high and the team knows what is at stake when you go against Alabama."
"We're still a very young team that is trying to get more and more experience," Graba added. "We put a lot of trust into all our athletes and especially in the freshmen and sophomores this year that are leading us off on events. Friday is going to bring the pressure, so we need to make sure we're all dialed in, ready to go and managing ourselves in order to finish with a great score."
AUBURN LINEUP
The Auburn lineup once again features a wealth of youth as 14 of 24 routines will come from sophomores and freshmen at Alabama. Being on the road, the Tigers will go bars, vault, floor and beam.
Freshman Olivia Hollingsworth will lead off on bars for the Tigers, competing in the event for just the second time in her career. Sophomore Anna Sumner will follow in second, while classmate Piper Smith will go third. The two sophomores made their collegiate debut on the event in the season-opening meet.
Senior Drew Watson returns to the bars lineup for the first time this season and is slated to go fourth in the opening rotation. Sophomore Adeline Sabados will go fifth for the squad and has made 12 starts in the event so far in her career. Junior Derrian Gobourne will anchor for the team and is among the nation's Top 25 in the event.
The Tigers move on to the vault in the second rotation and have two freshmen kicking off the event. Newcomer Payton Smith will lead off for the second-straight meet after making her collegiate debut last week at Kentucky, scoring a 9.7 on her Yurchenko full. Hollingsworth will go second for the squad.
Piper Smith and Sabados is down for the third and fourth spots after solid starts to their careers on the event. Sabados is tied for 14th regionally with a 9.813 average.
Watson and Gobourne will close out the event with their Yurchenko 1.5's. Watson is set to go fifth and Gobourne will anchor for the third-straight meet. Gobourne ranks among the nation's Top 25 in vault with a 9.85 average.
Auburn will head to floor for rotation three and will once again be led off by a freshman. Newcomer Gabby McLaughlin is down to compete in the event for the second-straight meet following a 9.7 at Kentucky last week.
Making her first start of the season in the event will be sophomore Morgan Leigh Oldham, who is slated to go second. Junior Sabrina Cheney is down for third and is coming off a career-tying score (9.75) at Kentucky.
Sabados and Watson will go fourth and fifth, while Gobourne will anchor her third-straight event on the evening.
Auburn caps the night on beam with Watson leading off to close out her first all-around showing this season. Hollingsworth will be second with Piper Smith going third. The pair made their beam debuts last week at Kentucky.
Senior beam specialist Meredith Sylvia is down in the fourth spot with Gobourne going fifth. McLaughlin will close competition out for the Tigers, anchoring the event for the second-straight meet.
UP NEXT
Auburn returns to the Plains for another Southeastern Conference contest next week. The Tigers host No. 5 LSU, Jan. 29, at 4 p.m. CT in Auburn Arena. The meet will be televised live on ESPN2.
