Auburn gymnastics began the postseason on the right foot by taking first place in the afternoon session of the SEC Championships at Gas South Arena in Duluth, Georgia.
The Tigers competed with Arkansas, Missouri, and Georgia in Session I of the championship, and took home the crown by scoring 197.100. Auburn edged out a persistent Missouri squad who built high scores on bars, beam, and floor. However, amazing personal scores by [autotag]Cassie Stevens[/autotag] and [autotag]Derrian Gobourne[/autotag] pushed Auburn to the title.
“I felt that for the most part, the team did a good job of picking each other up and getting through the meet,” head coach [autotag]Jeff Graba[/autotag] said Saturday. “We talked a lot about how that is what it takes to get through the postseason. You’re going to have adversity and you have to conquer it. I really feel like we did a good job with that today.”
Stevens posted a 39.650 all-around score and took home a share of the vault title on Saturday. She did not score below a 9.9 on any event during the championship.
“Knowing we had some bumps and bruises along the way, I just wanted to do it for them and I wanted it for us,” Stevens said. “We’ve worked so hard, and we’ve been through a lot this season. We’re ready for the hard work to pay off and just to be able to do this and step up in these moments for my team was really rewarding.”
Gobourne’s highlights include a 9.9 on bars and 9.875 on floor.
The Tigers ended fifth in the SEC Championships. Here’s a look at how the rest of the field did on Saturday:
- Florida (198.425)
- Alabama (197.925)
- LSU (197.800)
- Kentucky (197.675)
- Auburn (197.100)
- Missouri (197.000)
- Arkansas (196.825)
- Georgia (196.600)
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