BATON ROUGE, La. – The Auburn gymnastics team battled until the very last rotation, but came up just short to advance in the postseason as the Tigers finished third with a 195.500 in the second round of the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional Thursday night.
“Tough way to end the season,” head coach Jeff Graba said. “We did a great job at closing the gap leading into the second rotation and were within striking distance halfway through the final event, seeing some great routines to start things off. I’m really proud of the fight tonight and its unfortunate that we couldn’t close out the meet the way we wanted to.”
Needing to finish in the top two of the four-team session to advance to Saturday’s Sweet Sixteen, the second-place spot came down to two Tiger teams in Auburn and Clemson.
The two squads battled back and forth throughout the meet up to the final rotation with the Auburn Tigers on bars and the Clemson Tigers on vault as Clemson held a slim 147.575-147.525 advantage in the second team spot.
Despite having momentum from a great vault rotation, Auburn struggled to close bars strong and put up a 47.975 to Clemson’s 49.225 on vault.
Host and No. 2 LSU won the meet with a 198.375 inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. No. 15 Clemson followed with a 196.800 with Auburn finishing third with a 195.500. Nebraska came in fourth, scoring a 195.000.
Highlighting the final rotation were the efforts from junior Julianne Huff and freshman Charlotte Booth. Huff led off with a 9.85 and Booth followed with another 9.85, setting a career high. Sophomore Bryn Bartman chipped in a 9.7 and the team had to count two falls from the second half of the rotation.
The Tigers kicked off the meet on beam, scoring a 49.000. Sophomore Olivia Ahern led off with a 9.8, while senior Hannah Hagle, junior Alex Irvine and sophomore Marissa Neal capped the meet with three-straight 9.825s. Huff chipped in a 9.725 for the squad.
Clemson scored a 49.200 on bars to stay ahead of Auburn after the first rotation.
Auburn responded with a 49.275 on floor to Clemson’s 49.225 on beam, cutting into Clemson’s lead 98.425-98.275.
Irvine led off with a 9.8, while Bartman followed with a 9.85 to tie a career high. Huff also had a 9.85 for Auburn with junior Olivia Greaves scoring a 9.875. Neal anchored with a 9.9 for the team.
The third rotation had the Auburn Tigers go to vault and the team put up a 49.250 to better Clemson’s 49.150 on floor.
Junior Kaylee Bluffstone opened the scoring with a season-best 9.825 and was followed by a 9.85 from freshman Mia Leverton. Neal had a team-best 9.9 in the third spot, while junior Paige Zancan added a 9.825. Freshman Brynn Torry anchored with a nice Yurchenko 1.5, scoring a 9.85.
Auburn found itself just .050 behind Clemson heading into the final rotation, but couldn’t maintain momentum and ultimately finished third.
Season comes to an end at 2026 NCAA Baton Rouge Regional
The Auburn gymnastics team battled until the very last rotation, but came up just short to advance in the postseason as the Tigers finished third with a 195.500 in the second round of the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional Thursday night.
