AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn gymnastics team enters the week at No. 22 per RoadtoNationals.com. The weekly rankings are based on the average score over the season.
Auburn returns to the Plains for a Friday afternoon meet, hosting No. 2 LSU in Auburn Arena, Jan. 29. The two Tiger squads will face off at 4 p.m. CT and the meet will be televised on ESPN2.
"I'm so proud of this young team and how they are continuing to improve in tough environments," head coach Jeff Graba said. "With an SEC-only schedule this year, we are asking a lot of our squad and they are rising to the occasion. Friday's meet will be our third-straight meet against a Top 10 team and our third meet against one of the top teams in the country. It's going to be another opportunity to grow as a squad and it will be nice to be back home."
The nation's top squads start with Florida still in the No. 1 spot. LSU jumped Oklahoma for No. 2 with the Sooners moving down to No. 3. Utah and Denver round out the Top 5.
The rest of the Southeastern Conference ranks in the Top 25 this week as more teams across the country have started their seasons. Arkansas moved up to No. 6, while Alabama ranks eighth. Georgia is tenth and Kentucky stands at No. 14. Missouri closes out the SEC schools at No. 24.
Junior Derrian Gobourne continues to hold on to a Top 20 spot in the all-around and ranks tied for 19th with a 39.225 average. Sophomore Cassie Stevens is also tied for 19th with the same average in the all-around.
