AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 12 Auburn gymnastics team again finished with a flourish on floor, earning a pair of 9.925s and two 9.9s Friday at Neville Arena to score 197.025 for the second consecutive meet.
No. 7 Florida (4-0, 1-0 SEC) claimed the victory with a 197.325. Auburn's (1-4, 0-2 SEC) 49.45 on floor represented the Tigers' highest score of the meet, trailing only Florida's 49.475 on floor.
"Great finish. Really proud of the team," Auburn coach Jeff Graba said. "I think we're a 49.5 team on floor. The secret will be the other three events. It was good to see the fight, it was good to see the determination, but we've got to start earlier."
Fifth year Aria Brusch led off floor with a crowd-pleaser, tying her career high with a 9.9 from the judges. In the third spot, senior Gabby McLaughlin earned big cheers with her 9.925, a score fifth year Cassie Stevens matched and was a career high for both. Junior Sophia Groth's 9.9 and senior Olivia Hollingsworth's 9.8 contributed to the Tigers' total.
"We know how strong the floor squad is, especially being the last event at home," Stevens said. "The energy in the arena helps fuel us. We get so hyped for floor. Ready to leave it all out there and have a party."
McLaughlin and Groth each won event titles, with Groth's leadoff vault earning a 9.9 and McLaughlin's anchor beam routine meriting a season-high 9.95.
"We really tried to focus on building off of each other and keep pushing ourselves to get a little bit better," McLauglin said.
Stevens earned 39.575 to finish second in the all-around to Florida's Leanne Wong. Groth tallied two 9.9s on her way to a third-place all-around finish with 39.4. Hollingsworth also competed in all four events, earning a pair of 9.85s and a 9.8.
Groth got Auburn off to a fabulous start, tying her career high with a 9.9 on vault on the meet's first routine.
"For her, that's huge," Graba said. "It's going to help the rest of that lineup score better because it takes the pressure down just a little bit. When's the last time the first person up in the whole meet won that event? Really exciting to see what she's capable of. That shows how good we are when we're all clocking, but we've got to all start clicking."
Stevens anchored with a 9.875. The Tigers also counted Hollingsworth's 9.85, Julianna Huff's 9.75 and Sara Hubbard's 9.725.
Wong anchored with an event-winning 9.95 on bars to help the Gators take a 49.4-49.1 lead after the first rotation.
On bars, making her Auburn debut, freshman Emma Grace Boyd led off with a 9.775. After a setback in the second position, Auburn responded with 9.875s from Stevens and McLaughlin and 9.825s from Brusch and Groth to finish with 49.175 in the second rotation.
Moving to beam for Auburn's third rotation, Stevens showcased her eponymous skill in a stellar routine that earned a 9.9. McLaughlin anchored a flawless routine that yielded a season-high 9.95.
In her first Neville Arena meet, freshman Paige Zancan contributed a 9.825, Groth added a 9.775 and Hollngsworth scored a 9.85 for a 49.3 beam total.
"I was really proud of them," Stevens said of Zancan and Boyd's first collegiate routines. "They looked really confident out there. They were attacking it, and that's what you want from someone who's new."
After two consecutive home meets, the Tigers travel next Friday to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to compete against the No. 4 Razorbacks.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
