AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 12 Auburn gymnastics team will kick off the postseason not far from the Plains as the squad travels to Duluth, Georgia for the 2023 Southeastern Conference Championship Saturday, March 17, in Gas South Arena.
The Tigers are the No. 5 seed this season and will be in Session I with Arkansas, Missouri and Georgia. Action will start at 2:30 p.m. CT and will air live on SEC Network.
"Saturday is a great opportunity to get started on the right foot in the postseason," head coach Jeff Graba said. The SEC is the premier conference in the country and we get to match up against the top teams in our sport. All league teams are ranked in the top 20 so we need to be on our game, stay in the bubble and stay focused."
The Tigers are looking to get one more good road score to improve their NQS. Another solid score could help the team's seeding in the NCAA Regional Championship.
"This is the final road meet and final opportunity to change our NQS," Graba said. "Good performances bring good score so we're just looking for good performances on Saturday. Scores will take care of themselves."
PROJECTED LINEUP
The 2023 Auburn gymnastics squad heads into the postseason with a similar lineup from last week, featuring a fifth year, five seniors, two juniors, three sophomores and one freshman.
The Tigers will go vault, bars, beam and floor as the top seed in the afternoon session.
Auburn will once again be without Sunisa Lee. The sophomore is sitting out as she's going through non-gymnastics health issues.
The Tigers kick off the meet on vault and will be led by fifth year Derrian Gobourne as well as senior Cassie Stevens. Gobourne is a first team All-American in the event.
Stevens is among the SEC's best in the event with a 9.905 NQS.
Joining the pair in the team's top eight will be senior Adeline Sabados, junior Olivia Hollingsworth, sophomores Sophia Groth, Sara Hubbard and Caroline Leonard and freshman Hannah Hagle.
Hollingsworth has recently switched to a Yurchenko 1.5 and has a handful of 9.875s to her credit.
Auburn will move on to bars for rotation two and is coming off a season-best 49.525 last Friday.
Guiding the squad will be Gobourne, Stevens and senior Aria Brusch. Gobourne is the SEC and NCAA runner-up in the event, while Brusch returned to the lineup three weeks ago and already has two 9.9s. Stevens tied a career best on Friday with a 9.925.
Sabados, Hollingsworth and Groth along with junior Gabby McLaughlin and senior Anna Sumner are all in the team's top eight.
Hollingsworth recently set a career high with a 9.875 last week.
The squad will head to beam for the third rotation. McLaughlin, Stevens and All-American Groth are set to lead the way for the squad. McLaughlin won the beam title last week with a 9.95.
Hollingworth and Brusch have been mainstays in the lineup, while Hagle has earned her way into the top eight.
Seniors Morgan Leigh Oldham and Sumner have also secured a spot in the potential lineup.
Auburn's final rotation will have the team on floor.
Gobourne is set to headline the event as she returned this season as a first team All-American as well as national runner-up.
Stevens, Hollingsworth, Groth, McLaughlin and Brusch have all competed consistently this year. Hollingsworth won the floor title last week with a career-best 9.95.
Oldham and Hubbard round out the top eight for the Tigers.
UP NEXT
The postseason continues as Auburn awaits its NCAA Regional placement, which will be announced Monday at 11 a.m. CT.
No. 12 Auburn kicks off postseason at SEC Championship
