FORT WORTH, Texas – Competing in the Final Four for the first time, Auburn scored 197.350 to finish fourth at the NCAA Championship finals, capping the best season in program history Saturday at Dickies Arena.
"We did a good job on all 24 routines," Auburn coach Jeff Graba said. "I think we left it all out there and I'm really proud of them.
"There are 18 national championships among those other three teams and this is our third final appearance in history. We knew we had an uphill battle and we just needed to fight."
Auburn began that fight with a strong start on bars, scoring 49.425, the Tigers' highest mark of the day.
Derrian Gobourne led Auburn's bars scoring with 9.9375 with Sunisa Lee scoring 9.9125 in the anchor spot.
Sophia Groth scored 9.8875 with Cassie Stevens contributing 9.85 and Aria Brusch earning a 9.8375.
Through the first rotation, Auburn trailed only Utah's 49.5125 before the Tigers headed to beam.
"I was happy that they were attacking," Graba said. "They fought, they came out with a good mentality and they kept it all the way throughout."
Two days after winning the NCAA beam championship, Lee produced Auburn's highest beam score, closing with a 9.9.
Olivia Hollingsworth led off with a 9.8375, a score Stevens matched to tie for the Tigers' second-highest beam marks.
Gabby McLaughlin added a 9.825 and Groth earned a 9.8 to contribute to Auburn's 49.2 beam total, giving Auburn 98.625 through two rotations.
Lee and Gobourne continued to shine on floor, Auburn's third rotation, with the Olympic all-around gold medalist scoring a 9.95 and Gobourne anchoring with a 9.9375.
Groth earned a 9.8625, with Stevens adding a 9.825 and Watson a 9.8125 to help the Tigers tally 49.3875 on floor.
Stevens led Auburn's fourth rotation by scoring a 9.9375 on vault. Gobourne added a 9.8875 and Lee anchored with a 9.8625, a scored matched by first-team All-American freshman Sara Hubbard.
"It's the culmination of a long season, lots of hard work, lots of grind," Stevens said. "For it to pay off is an incredible feeling.
"We've come a long way. We knew from the beginning that this was our goal and achieving it is the best feeling. When you set a goal, you set out to achieve it. I feel like we surpassed it in so many different ways."
Groth added a 9.7875, bringing her all-around total to 39.3375. Stevens (39.45) and Lee (39.625) also competed in all four events for the Tigers, with Lee trailing only Florida's Trinity Thomas (39.8625) in Saturday's all-around scoring.
Oklahoma won the national championship scoring 198.200 to edge Florida's 198.0875 and Utah's 197.750.
"The only way to get better at this meet is to be here," Graba said. "Now we get to go back and learn from this and teach the new people coming in. A lot of good things come from this meet.
"At the beginning of the year, they ranked us 14th. These three teams were all ranked in the top four. Let's be real, we were 14th and I think we overachieved."
"It was so new to us and we were trying to take it all in and enjoy the moment," Stevens said. "It's not something that's guaranteed. We came out here grateful, ready to attack and just go for it, leave everything out here."
Auburn completes program’s best season at NCAA Championship Final Four
