AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 17 Auburn gymnastics team got a taste of competition Wednesday night as the team held its annual Preview Meet in Neville Arena.
“I think they did a really good job,” head coach Jeff Graba said. “We made a mission early on this fall to come into this event and throw everything and to not throw any punches. I thought they did a great job. This is the best we’ve ever looked this early and I think we’re in a really good spot.”
Auburn saw big routines from a wealth of experienced returners, while having a handful of newcomers put together a solid showing to start their Auburn careers.
Leading the charge was fifth year Olivia Hollingsworth, who competed in all four events. Joining her in the all-around with collegiate experience was sophomore Olivia Greaves. Three upperclassmen in Sophia Groth, Julianne Huff and Paige Zancan did three events each.
Auburn fans also saw solid routines from fifth year Gabby McLaughlin on floor and beam and redshirt freshman Bryn Bartman went on bars, beam and floor.
The home crowd also got to see the future of Auburn gymnastics as all four Auburn freshmen in Olivia Ahern, Sophia Bell, Katelyn Jong and Marissa Neal competed for the squad. Jong did all four events, while Bell and Neal did three and Ahern went on beam.
“It was really good for them to get out here and see what a crowd is like,” Graba said. “I think the young people have to get their feet wet in this place and they did a really good job managing their nerves.
“Our upper classmen got a really good opportunity to lead, and they stepped in, calmed people down, encouraged them to do the right thing and gave them a lot of hints. It was a big culture event for us. The team got better tonight.”
Auburn opens the 2025 season at the American Gold Collegiate Championship in Nashville on January 4. The Tigers will face off with No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 23 Nebraska and BYU at 5:15 p.m. CT in the Nashville Municipal Auditorium.