AUBURN, Ala. – The 2024 Auburn gymnastics season is set to kick off Saturday, January 6 as the No. 17 Tigers will compete in the Mean Girls Super 16 Gymnastics Championships in Las Vegas. The quad meet will be held in Orleans Arena and begins at 8 p.m. CT.
"We're just really excited to get the season started," head coach Jeff Graba said. "We still have a lot of adjustments to get through because we have 10 new people on the team. I know what this team is like in a practice and I'm looking forward to seeing what they are like in competition this weekend."
The Tigers will face No. 5 UCLA, No. 7 Cal and No. 8 Alabama to start the season and the meet will be streamed live on YouTube.
"We're starting the season off with a postseason meet," junior Sophia Groth said. "We will get to see a lot of different levels of competition and that will push us to be better."
This is the second-consecutive year that Auburn opened up the year in Las Vegas. The 16-team event runs Friday and Saturday with Auburn competing in the final session of the weekend and the meet will be held on podium.
"You don't have to motivate your athletes to get ready when they're going up against UCLA, Cal and Alabama on a podium in Las Vegas and we're considered the underdog," Graba said. "We're not starting the season slow with our competition. Now it's time to rely on our prep and I want to see how they react under this pressure."
POTENTIAL LINEUP
The Tigers kick off the meet on beam and the team's top eight feature a wealth of experience. Leading the way will be fifth years Aria Brusch and Cassie Stevens as well as seniors Olivia Hollingsworth and Gabby McLaughlin and junior Sophia Groth.
Stevens has a team-best 45 starts on beam and was All-SEC last year in the event. McLaughlin also secured All-SEC in 2023, while Groth earned a pair of All-America honors in 2022.
Joining the five in experience is sophomore Hannah Hagle, who stepped into the lineup late last season. She has four starts under her belt with a career-high 9.9.
Freshmen Julianne Huff and Paige Zancan also earned a spot in the top eight on beam for the Tigers.
The squad will move on to floor in rotation two. Hollingsworth and Stevens are a part of the top eight after each earned All-SEC in the event last season. Brusch, McLaughlin and Groth also are a part of the top eight with a ton of experience under their belts on the event.
Huff, Hagle and junior Sara Hubbard are also competing for a spot in the lineup on floor. Hubbard has a career-best 9.9 to her name.
Auburn heads to vault for the third rotation and looks to see a handful of 10.0 vaults from the top eight. Stevens has a pair of 9.975 in her career and was SEC Co-Champion and first team All-American in the event.
Joining her in the potential lineup is Groth, senior transfer Sydney Schumaker, Hubbard, Hollingsworth, Huff, junior Caroline Leonard and freshman Jersie Woolsey. Hubbard earned All-America honors in the event in 2022, while Schumaker comes to Auburn after earning a pair of National Collegiate Gymnastics (NCGA) All-America honors at SUNY Brockport.
The Tigers will conclude the meet on bars and will once again be guided by a handful of upperclassmen. All-SEC performers Brusch and Stevens will lead the way with Groth, Hollingsworth and McLaughlin all vying for a spot in the lineup.
Hagle as well as freshmen Bryn Bartman and Emma Grace Boyd are also competing for a starting spot for the Tigers on bars.
UP NEXT
Auburn hosts No. 9 Kentucky in Neville Arena on January 12. The Tigers and the Wildcats will go head-to-head at 7:30 p.m. CT and the meet will be televised on SEC Network.
No. 17 Auburn opens 2024 at Mean Girls Super 16 Championship
