No. 6 Auburn travels to No. 10 Arkansas for SEC road contest

AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 6 Auburn gymnastics team will head out on the road for the first time in 2026, traveling to No. 10 Arkansas for the team’s first Southeastern Conference contest of the season. The Tigers and the Razorbacks will face off at 5 p.m. CT Sunday, January 18 inside Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.

“It will be important to be in our bubble this Sunday,” head coach Jeff Graba said. “I’m glad we had an extra day or two of practice this week as we continue to work people back into the lineup after some setbacks this fall. I like our team. I like the fact that we’re going on the road”

The Tigers are once again facing a top-ranked opponent and are preparing for a big top 10 showdown in the SEC.

“This a tough meet because Arkansas is very good at home,” Graba said. “We’re going to have to stay focused on us. We want to go in there and have a great performance and if we can up our average Sunday, we’ll be happy with ourselves.”

AUBURN LINEUP
Going on the road for the first time, the team will go in the following event order: bars, vault, floor, beam.

Three Tigers in juniors Olivia Greaves and Julianne Huff as well as sophomore Marissa Neal could potentially see themselves in the all-around this weekend as all three have earned a spot in the top eight for each event.

Auburn will open the meet on bars, having a wealth of experience among the potential lineup. Leading the way is Greaves as well as classmates Emma Grace Boyd and Alex Irvine. Greaves has 25 starts to her credit, while Irvine has 13 and Boyd competed in every meet in 2025.

Huff joins her three classmates after earning the first start of her career on bars last Friday vs. NC State. Neal along with sophomore Bryn Bartman and freshman Charlotte booth are among the top eight as the three also competed vs. the Wolfpack. Returning to the potential lineup this Sunday on bars is sophomore Katelyn Jong, who earned SEC All-Freshman accolades in the event last year.

The Tigers will head to vault in the second rotation and are currently the top-ranked vault team in the country after putting together a 49.475 in the season opener.

Leading the charge is junior Paige Zancan and sophomore Sophia Bell. Zancan anchored the lineup with a 9.975 vs. the Wolfpack, tying a career high. Bell made headlines when she stuck her Yurchenko double full to secure a career-best 9.925. She became the first Auburn gymnast to do the vault in competition.

The rest of the top eight includes Greaves, Neal, Huff and freshman Mia Leverton. All four competed last week to contribute to the big team score. Joining them in the top eight is junior Jersie Woolsey and freshman Brynn Torry. It’s Torry’s first appearance on the potential lineup.

Auburn moves on to floor in rotation three and stands No. 1 nationally after going 49.500 vs. NC State.

Bell and Greaves each set career highs against the Wolfpack in the event, scoring a 9.95 each. Bartman, Huff and sophomore Olivia Ahern all contributed to the overall team score as Bartman (9.85) and Huff (9.9) secured career bests.

Also among the top eight on floor is Neal, Irvine and junior transfer Emma Wehry.

The final rotation has the team close out the meet on beam. Highlighting the top eight is Ahern and Neal, who each won a share of the event title against NC State. Neal has a career-best 9.975 to her credit, while Ahern has been a steady leadoff beam worker her entire career so far.

Irvine, Huff, Greaves and Wehry are all among the top eight, while senior Hannah Hagle and Booth are hoping to secure a spot in the lineup as well.

UP NEXT
Auburn will host its first top five opponent in a matchup vs. No 1. Florida on January 23. The competition will begin at 7:45 p.m. CT in Neville Arena for the Auburn Jungle’s designated 90s theme night for students. The meet will be televised on SEC Network.