AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 19 Auburn gymnastics team returns to the road as the squad travels to Missouri for a Friday night meet, Feb. 12. The two Tiger squads will face off at 8 p.m. CT on SEC Network in the Hearnes Center in Columbia.
"This is always a tough road trip," head coach Jeff Graba said. "Missouri is not only a strong team, but they are a tough team especially at home. They are a sneaky, talented squad that is also very young.
"This arena also provides a difficult environment to compete in," Graba added. "However, I do think it's important for our team to battle through these situations. Because we are so young, this trip will only make us better. The trick is to make it our environment no matter where we compete."
AUBURN LINEUP
The Auburn tentative lineup features 17 of 24 possible routines coming from sophomores or freshmen. Of the 17, 13 will come from the sophomore class.
As the visiting team, Auburn will go bars, vault, floor and end on beam.
Five of the team's six spots on bars are designated to sophomores with Anna Sumner leading things off. She's earned a start on bars in all four previous meets.
Sophomore Piper Smith is slated to go second on bars after putting together a career-high 9.925 vs. LSU. Classmate Adeline Sabados follows in third and had a solid performance against the LSU last week, tying her career high with a 9.85.
Sophomores Cassie Stevens and Aria Brusch are down for fourth and fifth followed by more career highs vs. the visiting Tigers. Stevens set a career best with a 9.875, while Brusch tied her career high with a 9.9. Brusch is tied for 25th nationally with a 9.862 average. Junior Derrian Gobourne will anchor following a 9.9 last week. She also ranks tied for 25th nationally in the event.
The Tigers will move on to vault in rotation two and will once again be led off by a handful of underclassmen. Freshman Payton Smith will lead off for the fourth-straight meet with Piper Smith and Sabados following. Stevens is set for fourth.
Senior Drew Watson will make her first appearance of the night on vault and is down for fifth. She's coming off a season-best 9.875 vs. LSU. Gobourne will once again anchor following a 9.9 last week where she won a share of the event title. She currently ranks tied for 18th in the event nationally.
Auburn heads to floor in the third rotation. A trio of youngsters will lead things off in Piper Smith, sophomore Morgan Leigh Oldham and freshman Olivia Hollingsworth.
Stevens is set to go fourth with Watson following in fifth. The pair are each coming off 9.9s last week. That score was a career best for Stevens and tied a career high for Watson.
Putting an exclamation on the rotation will be Gobourne. The Sarasota, Fla., product is coming off a huge score vs. LSU as she took home the event with a 9.975, earning a 10 from one judge.
The final rotation has the Tigers on beam. Leading off will be Watson as she closes out her three-event night. Oldham will go second following a career-best 9.75 last week and Piper Smith caps her busy night in the third slot.
Senior Meredith Sylvia is slated to go fifth. The Macungie, Pa., native had a big performance last week in the event, setting a season best with a 9.9. Freshman Gabby McLaughlin put together a 9.925 vs. LSU to win the event, earning a career high for the squad. She'll go fifth. Stevens is expected to close out her all-around performance at anchor on beam.
UP NEXT
The Tigers come back to Auburn Arena to host rival and nationally-ranked Georgia, Feb. 19. The teams will face off at 7 p.m. CT and the meet will be streamed on SEC Network+.
No. 19 Auburn travels to Missouri for a Friday night meet
