AUBURN, Ala. (EETV) - The Auburn Tigers Gymnastics season has officially, come to an end. After going all the way and reaching the Final Four last season, the Tigers couldn’t quite make it out of the opening round of the NCAA Los Angeles Regional at UCLA.
Coming in as a 3 seed Auburn needed to finish in the top two against 2 seed Utah, Southern Utah and Washington to make it to the second round. Auburn failed to do so as they scored 195.9 compared to Utah’s 198.125, Washington’s 196.775, and Southern Utah’s 196.6, meaning Utah and Washington will advance to the Sweet 16.
The Tigers were in second place going into the third rotation, but three falls on the bars led to a Washington upset. Auburn Head Coach Jeff Graba spoke about the loss stating “You can’t have an event like we did on bars. We picked a bad night to have our worst night of the year.”
Starting off on floor, Auburn had stellar routines one after the other. These included a career high for Gabby McLaughlin with a 9.875, and a team-high 9.925 for Derrian Gobourne. Gobourne also earned a share of the session event title with this score. The other Auburn scores included a 9.975 from Olivia Hollingsworth, and 9.850 from both Sophia Groth and Cassie Stevens. This left Auburn in a steady position in second place with 49.375 after the first round.
Next up, the Tigers competed in the second rotation, vault. The team had yet another great set of routines. Caroline Leonard had a career high of 9.875, which teammate Derrian Gobourne matched. Sophomore Sara Hubbard then came out with a 9.850 and Olivia Hollingsworth and Cassie Stevens both received 9.800. Despite not reaching the 9.900 scoring range, Auburn reached 98.575 staying in second place.
However, the third rotation was when Auburn lost its lead. With the first 3 Auburn gymnasts falling, the final score had to include 2 falls. These were Olivia Hollingsworth’s 9.225 and Gabby McLaughlin’s 9.25. Aria Brusch got the Tigers back on track with a 9.900. Cassie Stevens then tied her career high with a 9.925 and Derrian Gobourne closed out with a 9.850. Despite this, Auburn fell to fourth place with 146.725.
Last up was beam. Freshman Hanna Hagle came up big time with a career best 9.900, even earning a 10.000 from one of the judges. The other Auburn scores included a 9.875 from Gabby McLaughlin, a 9.825 from Aria Brusch, Olivia Hollingsworth’s 9.800, and Sophia Groth’s 9.775. Unfortunately, this was not enough. The deficit from the third rotation was too much to overcome and Auburn ended in last place, also ending their season.
Cassie Stevens and Derrian Gobourne may still have the opportunity to potentially advance individually to the NCAA Championships in Fort Worth, Texas however. Depending on other regional individual results, they may be able to compete with their bars and floor routines, respectively.
Even though we may be saying goodbye to Auburn Gymnastics favorites Suni Lee and Derrian Gobourne, the Auburn Tigers will be back next season.
