AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 5 Auburn gymnastics team is set to welcome Kentucky to Auburn Arena Friday, hosting another Southeastern Conference matchup in front of the home crowd. The Tigers and the Wildcats are set to face off at 6:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
"Kentucky isn't in the first set of rankings because the team is missing a road score," head coach Jeff Graba said. "But if you put them in the rankings, they are coming in right at No. 9 or 10. They are extremely good and have been for years, which isn't a surprise.
"Kentucky needs a really good road score so they are coming to town to knock us out and score big," Graba added. "We have a couple of tough home meets coming up so we need to focus in on us and take the pressure off of us and put it on them."
The Tigers are looking forward to pushing upgrades throughout the meet and elevate their depth this Friday.
"We have options and the only way we can exercise those options is to put them in a meet setting," Graba said. "We really need to solidify who can score what, so this Friday is going to be very important. It's nice to have depth, but it's only good if we use it and trust it. So now is the time to give people some shots."
AUBURN LINEUP
Depth and experience with a mix of new talent is what the Tigers will bring to the table in 2022.
Auburn will lead things off on vault where it ranks sixth nationally. Seniors Derrian Gobourne and Drew Watson as Watson is among the nation's top 10 in the event, while Gobourne is tied for 13th.
Freshmen Sophia Groth, Sara Hubbard and Sunisa Lee have all done well for the Tigers in the event this season, including a 9.925 from Lee last week. Sophomore Tara Walsh with juniors Cassie Stevens and Adeline Sabados round out the top eight for the squad.
Rotation two has the team on bars and will be led by experience bar workers. Lee is third nationally with a 9.920 NQS and a 10.0 under her belt. Gobourne, Aria Brusch, Sabados, Piper Smith and Stevens all add experience and big scores to the team's top eight.
Groth and sophomore Gabby McLaughlin have also worked their way into Auburn's potential lineup for bars.
Auburn's beam squad ranks second nationally with a 49.390 NQS. Lee is fifth in the nation at 9.920 with a handful of 9.975s so far this year. Groth is also in the top 10 nationally at 9.895.
Sophomore Olivia Hollingsworth with Smith, Stevens and McLaughlin all bring big scoring potential to the lineup. Junior Morgan Leigh Oldham and fifth year Allie Riddle are once again among the top eight with an opportunity to compete.
Auburn's floor top eight will be highlighted by Lee, Gobourne and Watson. Hubbard, Groth and fellow freshman Ananda Brown are among the possible competitors with Stevens and Oldham joining them.
UP NEXT
Auburn welcomes the SEC's top team in No. 3 Florida to Auburn Arena in the regular season home finale. The two teams will face off at 7 p.m. CT and the meet will serve as both Senior Night and the Alumni Meet.
No. 5 Tigers host Kentucky in Auburn Arena Friday
