Tag: Sunisa Lee

Auburn places fourth in NCAA gymnastics championship

Auburn’s fourth-place finish is the highest in program history.

Auburn gymnastics’ stellar season has come to an end.

The Tigers finished fourth overall in the NCAA gymnastics championship in Fort Worth, Texas, on Saturday, with a final score of 197.3500. The No. 1 seeded Oklahoma Sooners took the championship with a 198.2000, SEC-rival Florida finished second with a 198.0875 and the Utah Utes placed third with a 197.7500. The fourth-place finish for Auburn is its highest in program history.

The Tigers started out the meet strong on the bars, with Olympic gold medalist [autotag]Sunisa Lee[/autotag] and senior [autotag]Derrian Gobourne[/autotag] both netting scores in the 9.9s to help Auburn start the day off with a score of 49.425, good for second place. Lee would go on to place second in the all-around for the event.

After that, though, the Tigers started to fall back. Auburn found itself in fourth place after some missteps on the beam, and the Oklahoma Sooners began their stellar charge that would end up bringing them home the championship. Lee scored a 9.9 to close out the beam, her second of three scores in the 9.9s on the day.

Lee would do even better in the floor rotation for Auburn’s third set, where her routine netted her a 9.95. Gobourne shined as well, scoring a 9.9375 herself as the final Tiger on the floor.

Auburn’s final rotation was on the vault, where junior [autotag]Cassie Stevens[/autotag] put in the team-best score on 9.9375. The Tigers would remain in fourth place, and the Sooners would clinch the gymnastics championship with their final rotation on the beam.

Auburn’s fourth-place finish, highest in the program’s history, is a major turnaround from posting a 1-7 record last season. The gymnastics team could face some tough departures, but it certainly has much to be proud of as this season concludes.

 

Auburn places second in gymnastics Semifinal II to advance to Final Four

The Auburn Tigers gymnastics team isn’t done yet.

The Auburn Tigers are still alive.

Auburn’s gymnastics team defeated both the defending national champions in the Michigan Wolverines and the SEC-rival Missouri Tigers with a score of 197.837 to be one of the two teams from the Semi II to advance to the Final Four. In an all-too-familiar sight, the Florida Gators managed to rally from behind to take the overall victory with a score of 197.975.

The Tigers began the night with a 49.5125 on the beam, which was good for second place. A stellar second rotation on the floor, however, propelled Auburn into the leading spot — four of the five gymnasts competing on the floor scored a 9.9 or higher, with senior [autotag]Derrian Gobourne[/autotag] landing a 9.9625.

Auburn carried that lead into the third rotation, the vault, with a 49.2375. The Tigers were unable to call themselves the winners of the meet at the end of the day, though, as Florida rallied with a very impressive 49.7500 that Auburn was unable to best on the bars. Although the Tigers’ 49.4750 in the last rotation couldn’t seal the victory, it did seal Auburn’s ticket to the last round of the NCAA gymnastics championships.

Freshman [autotag]Sunisa Lee[/autotag] also dazzled at the event. She won the individual national championship on the beam, but she was unable to nab the all-around title from UF’s Trinity Thomas. Despite this, her 39.675 all-around score was a driving force in helping the Tigers make its first finals appearance since 2015.

Auburn will face off against Florida, Oklahoma and Utah on Saturday at 12 p.m. CT in the Final Four.

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Auburn gymnastics moves on to Sweet Sixteen

Auburn, along with SEC rival Kentucky, advanced to the next round of the NCAA postseason.

The postseason isn’t over just yet for the Auburn Tigers.

Auburn’s gymnastics team will advance to the NCAA’s gymnastics Sweet Sixteen after being one of the two best teams in its group in Thursday’s afternoon quad-meet. The Tigers’ 197.500 was enough to defeat Southern Utah and the SEC rival Georgia Bulldogs and punch their ticket to the next round of the postseason, but the SEC rival Kentucky Wildcats bested Auburn with a score of 197.750.

The Tigers will be most proud of their score on beam, their highest of the night. Auburn netted a 49.975 on the event and freshmen [autotag]Sunisa Lee[/autotag] and [autotag]Sophia Groth[/autotag] both got to put on a clinic — Lee was awarded the highest score of the meet with her beam routine, scoring a 9.975, and Groth supplemented it nicely with a 9.95 of her own.

The last of Auburn’s All-American trio, senior [autotag]Derrian Gobourne[/autotag], dazzled as well. Gobourne tied for the event win on the floor with a 9.95. Gobourne also contributed with a 9.85 on the vault and on the uneven bars.

Auburn will now wait until Saturday at 5 p.m. CT for the Sweet Sixteen portion of the regional. The Tigers will face the two best teams from Thursday night’s group of Denver, Ohio State, Iowa State and the Florida Gators, the undisputed SEC champions.

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Auburn gymnastics earns All-American honors

The six All-American awards are the most in a single season in Auburn’s school history.

Auburn gymnastics continues to be recognized for its prowess in the regular season.

Freshman [autotag]Sunisa Lee[/autotag] and [autotag]Sophia Groth[/autotag] and senior [autotagDerrian Gobourne[/autotag] were all awarded All-American honors by the Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association last week. Lee netted four nods while Groth and Goubourne were each awarded one. The six awards all together are the most the Tigers have won in a season in program history.

Lee was named a first-team All-American for the all-around, the bars and the beam. Lee is currently ranked No. 2 in the nation for all-around, No. 1 in the uneven bars and tied for the No. 1 balance beam spot with Oklahoma’s Ragan Smith, so the accolades given to the Olympic gold medalist are certainly warranted. On top of this, Lee was also given a second-team nod for the floor, where she is currently ranked 9th in the nation.

In addition, Groth earned first-team All-American honors for her work on the balance beam this year, finishing the season at No. 7 in the nation. Gobourne was given first-team recognition for the floor event, her second straight first-team All-American nomination for that event.

Auburn’s next action will be at the NCAA Regional in its home arena in Auburn, Alabama on Thursday at 1 p.m. CT.

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Four Auburn gymnasts nab All-SEC nods

Freshman Sunisa Lee and senior Derrian Gobourne were also given individual awards by the conference.

Auburn has been thoroughly recognized by the SEC as it prepares to host an NCAA Regional at the end of the month.

Four Auburn gymnasts were named to the All-SEC team on Wednesday, and two of those gymnasts were also given postseason awards on top of it. Freshmen Sunisa Lee and Sophia Groth, junior Aria Brusch and senior Derrian Gobourne were all named to the All-SEC team — Lee was awarded the SEC Freshman of the Year award and made the SEC-All Freshman team while Gobourne shared the SEC Co-Specialist of the Year with Missouri’s Sienna Schreiber.

Lee has been a star for Auburn since arriving after her gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and she’s performed well enough to be the No. 2 ranked all-around gymnast in the country. Lee has won SEC Freshman of the Week twice and is the first Auburn gymnast to score a perfect 10 since 2004, a feat she’s achieved four different times this season.

Gobourne, meanwhile, is the No. 7 gymnast in the nation on the floor and also earned the Co-Specialist of the Year honor last year in 2021. Gobourne, a senior, also netted a first career perfect 10 against the Florida Gators earlier this year that helped the Tigers tie the undisputed SEC Champions.

Groth and Brusch both won their first All-SEC awards and have been a large factor in Auburn’s successful run this season. The quartet will look to continue producing as they get ready for the NCAA Regional on March 31.

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Auburn scores school-best at SEC Championships

The Tigers finished third behind Alabama and SEC-champion Florida.

The Auburn Tigers may not have won the SEC title, but they won’t be ashamed to have broken a school record.

Auburn placed third in the SEC championships on Saturday with a score of 197.225, behind Alabama and the SEC champions in Florida. The score is the Tigers’ best result in the SEC Championships in school history and the third-place finish is the highest for Auburn in the history of the championships’ third-place format. Freshman Sunisa Lee also won the bars event with a perfect 10, her fourth overall on the year.

The event didn’t start out well for the Tigers. Auburn had its first rotation on the beam and it had to count a fall, scoring a low 48.9 on the event. The Tigers bounced back, though, and both Lee and senior Derrian Gobourne were runner-ups on the floor with 9.95s. Fifth-year Drew Watson led Auburn on the vault with a 9.90 in its third rotation.

Lee’s perfect 10 on the bars came in Auburn’s final rotation. Gobourne had high praise for Lee’s performance, saying in a team release that the score after the Tigers’ rough start showed the team’s resiliency.

“That was phenomenal. The feeling was magical. It was like we were building off each other. It was so much fun. What matters is how you close it out. I’m super proud of this team. It shows how tough we are.”

Auburn’s next action will be as hosts at the NCAA Regionals on March 31 and April 2, where it hopes to advance on to the NCAA Championship in Fort Worth, Texas in mid-April.

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Sunisa Lee wanted nothing more than to celebrate her Olympic gold medal with a pizza

Sunisa Lee won an Olympic gold medal. And then she got the pizza she’d been craving.

Pizza parties are the best kind of parties. Gymnast Sunisa Lee gets it.

After she put together an absolutely clutch performance to win the gold medal in women’s all-around competition in gymnastics at the Tokyo Olympics on Thursday, Lee said wanted to celebrate with pizza — because of course. Who doesn’t?

She went on NBC Sports for an interview after a trip to the podium, and she discussed her performance, which came in the wake of Simone Biles bowing out of the competition. The reporter asked Lee what she will do next. The answer was so darn perfect: “Pizza.”

Here’s a look at the interview.

And, yes, Lee absolutely got her pizza. She posted a video of herself celebrating with a her medal and her pizza on TikTok.

https://www.tiktok.com/@sunisalee_/video/6990385652596608262?lang=en&is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1

Nothing better than a delicious pizza pie.

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