BATON ROUGE, La. – The No. 17 Auburn gymnastics team kicked off a busy weekend away from the Plains with a solid score on the road, putting together a 196.825 in a loss to No. 2 LSU inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge Friday night.
The score was the second highest of the season for the Auburn team and the highest on the road this season. The LSU Tigers took the win with a 198.325.
“I was very proud of their effort tonight,” head coach Jeff Graba said. “It’s a tough thing to start a meet with lineup changes, but they stayed together. It was so encouraging to see how they came together tonight and build off each routine and rotation. I’m very happy.”
Auburn had to shuffle lineups right before the start of the meet after losing sophomore Sophia Bell to injury during warmups.
“We are obviously heartbroken for Sophia because she is such a fierce competitor for us and thrives in tough environments,” Graba said. “But I’m proud of how the team responded after a hard situation in warmups to start the meet.”
The Tigers built off a solid start on bars, improving in each event as the meet went on. The squad totaled 10 individual career or season highs on the night, while setting a season best as a team on beam in the final rotation.
“Beam is a separator in this sport,” Graba said. “You have to do beam well to compete in the SEC and I think their performance showed how tough we are. We were wondering which team would show up tonight and the one that did built on every event. This was our best, most cohesive meet yet.”
Auburn kicked off the meet with a 49.000 on bars, marking the second-highest team total on the apparatus for the Tigers this season. Juniors Emma Grace Boyd and Alex Irvine led the way with 9.85s each. That score tied a career best for Boyd.
Juniors Olivia Greaves and Julianne Huff chipped in a pair of 9.775s, while freshman Charlotte Booth had a 9.75 in the first rotation.
The visiting Tigers moved on to vault in rotation two, seeing a 49.175. Junior Jersie Woolsey made the first start of her collegiate career, leading off with a 9.8. Freshman Mia Leverton and sophomore Marissa Neal led the Tigers with 9.875s, which tied a career high for Leverton and set a career high for Neal. Huff added a 9.85 and junior Paige Zancan anchored with a 9.775.
Auburn continued to build momentum, putting together a 49.250 in the third on floor. Greaves closed out the rotation with a 9.925, while Huff added a 9.875. Neal, in the fifth position, had a 9.85 to contribute to the team score and Auburn opened up the rotation with three-straight 9.8s from Bryn Bartman, Irvine and Ahern. Irvine’s score set a career best.
The Tiger beam squad shined in the last rotation, laying down a season-best 49.400.
Ahern led off with a 9.8 and was followed by a 9.85 from junior Emma Wehry, setting an Auburn career best for the West Virginia transfer. Huff and senior Hannah Hagle responded with a pair of 9.875s to continue to build for the team in the event. That score was the career best for Huff and a season high for Hagle.
The final two routines came from Irvine and Neal and the pair each earned a 9.9 for the squad. That tied a career high for Irvine and tied a season best for Neal.
Huff competed in the all-around for the Tigers and came away with a 39.375, the second-highest score for the Hoover, Alabama product this season.
Auburn continues on the road, heading to Fort Worth for a Sunday night meet, February 15. The Tigers will compete in the annual Metroplex Challenge in the Fort Worth Convention Center, facing No. 13 North Carolina, No. 21 NC State and Boise State in a quad meet on the podium. Action begins at 7:15 p.m. CT.
Season-high road score for No. 17 Auburn in loss at No. 2 LSU
The No. 17 Auburn gymnastics team kicked off a busy weekend away from the Plains with a solid score on the road, putting together a 196.825 in a loss to No. 2 LSU inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge Friday night.
