AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 14 Auburn gymnastics team will close out the 2024 regular season this Saturday, competing at the Kidney Care Women's Gymnastics Championship in Nashville. The quad meet will be held in the Nashville Municipal Auditorium.
Auburn will face off with SEC rival and No. 6 Kentucky, No. 15 Ohio State and Fisk Saturday night.
"These are all tough match ups," head coach Jeff Graba said. We've got a lot on our plate and this is going to be a difficult meet. We're excited to have a ton of Auburn fans in attendance and we're at that point in the season because it's all about our performance and we need to show up."
The Tigers will start on beam and are looking for another solid road score to contribute to the overall National Qualifying Score rankings before postseason starts next week.
"We're just trying to continue to build as we're now on the podium for the next couple of meets," Graba said. "We have one more opportunity until postseason and we need to capitalize."
POTENTIAL LINEUP
Auburn will kick off this week's quad meet on beam and will follow with floor, vault and end on bars.
The Tiger beam squad has continued to build and excel this season and are currently ranked seventh nationally with a 49.390 NQS.
Leading the way among the top eight is senior Gabby McLaughlin and fifth year Cassie Stevens. McLaughlin is tied for 19th nationally with a 9.915 NQS and has six scores of 9.9 or better, including a 9.95.
Stevens has a 9.905 NQS and has a career-best 9.975 to her credit this season.
Joining the pair is upperclassmen Aria Brusch, Olivia Hollingsworth and Sophia Groth. Brusch is coming off a season-best 9.9 last week, while both Groth and Hollingsworth have been consistent all season.
Freshman Paige Zancan has been in the lineup for all but two meets this year, while redshirt freshmen Hailey John and Olivia Greaves are also among the top eight for the squad.
Auburn heads to floor for rotation two and has been a consistent team in the event all year, having a
Hollingsworth is among the nation's best with a 9.915 NQS. Stevens, McLaughlin, Brusch and Groth have competed in every meet on the floor this season for the squad.
McLaughlin earned a 9.925 last week in Baton Rouge, while Stevens and Groth chipped in 9.9s and Brusch had a 9.875.
Freshman Julianne Huff along with junior Sara Hubbard and Zancan are also among the top eight. Huff reached a career-best last weekend with a 9.875.
Auburn moves on to vault for the third and are looking to regroup for a big score this Saturday.
The Tigers have six of their top eight with 10.0 start values. Senior Sydney Schumaker along with Hollingsworth, Hubbard, Huff, Stevens and Zancan are all among the top eight with 10.0 vaults.
Stevens is coming off a 9.9 last week in Baton Rouge, while Zancan picked up a 9.9 the following week in Georgia.
Groth and Greaves both have a 9.95 start value and are among the possible starters for the squad.
The final rotation has the squad on bars.
Stevens, Brusch, Hollingsworth, McLaughlin, Groth and Greaves have all been consistent competitors for the Tigers, while sophomore Hannah Hagle and freshman Emma Grace Boyd are among the top eight.
UP NEXT
Auburn kicks off the postseason at the 2024 SEC Championship next week. The Tigers will compete in New Orleans at the Smoothie King Center on March 23.