No. 14 Auburn Kicks Off 2018 at Arizona State

Jan. 5, 2018

Auburn Notes

AUBURN, Ala. -- The No. 14 Auburn gymnastics team opens the 2018 season in the desert, traveling to Tempe, Ariz., for a quad meet at No. 31 Arizona State. The Tigers will take on the Sun Devils, No. 21 Iowa, and No. 29 Iowa State Saturday, Jan. 6, at 5 p.m. CT in Wells Fargo Arena.

"This is a completely different team from last year with a lot of young people," head coach Jeff Graba said. "We are going to use the month of January to move some people around to make sure that we're doing a good job putting the best people in the best spot to maximize our success. I'm looking forward to seeing how this young team performs under pressure and how they react in a meet environment. It'll be a very important opening weekend to get some experience and solidify what we know we have."

IN THE RANKINGS
The Auburn gymnastics team will enter the 2018 season at No. 14 as the National Association of College Gymnastics Coaches/Women (NACGC/W) released its yearly preseason poll.

"Obviously, we're more concerned with the final results than the preseason polls," Graba said. "But, I'm very happy to see that other coaches around the country think we'll improve this year. We have a lot of talented young people and I already see us improving on last year's finish."

Three Southeastern Conference teams rank in the Top 5, while all eight league schools rank in the Top 20. Defending national champion Oklahoma is No. 1 with Florida (2), LSU (3), Alabama (4), and Utah (5) following. Kentucky comes in at No. 10, while Georgia (16), Missouri (17), and Arkansas (19) close out the other ranked conference teams.

SCOUTING ARIZONA STATE
The No. 31 Arizona State Sun Devils return 12 from the 2017 squad that finished at No. 41 overall, including lone senior Nichelle Christopherson and five juniors. In addition, the squad added a pair of transfers in Anne Kuhm (Michigan) and Kaitlyn Szafranski (LSU). Kuhm competed for the French national team at the 2012 London Olympics.

SCOUTING IOWA
The No. 20 Iowa Hawkeyes were selected to finish third in the Big Ten Women's Gymnastics Preseason Coaches' Poll after returning 14 from last year's team. Senior Lanie Snyder and sophomore Clair Kaji were named to the 2018 Big Ten Women's Gymnasts to Watch list.

SCOUTING IOWA STATE
The No. 29 Iowa State Cyclones concluded the 2017 season in fifth place at the NCAA Lincoln Regionals with a 195.250. The squad returns 13 letterwinners, including NCAA Championship qualifier Haylee Young. In addition, the team returns every routine from last season as the squad did not have a senior in 2017.

AUBURN LINEUP
Depth is the name of the game for the Tigers in 2018 as each event is expected to be at least 10 gymnasts deep. The tentative lineup for Saturday's meet features one senior, five juniors, three sophomores, and four freshmen. (Lineups are subject to change prior to the meet)

Picking up where she left off last year in the all-around is sophomore Katie Becker. The Boone, N.C., product represented the Tigers in the category at the 2017 NCAA Championship as a freshman.

The Tigers start the quad meet on bars and will feature an experienced group starting with juniors Abby Milliet and Samantha Cerio. Milliet holds a career-high 9.95 under her belt, while Cerio qualified for the 2017 NCAA Championship in the event. Classmates Gracie Day and Kendal Moss will join Becker as Day competed in the event in all meets last year. Earning her first-career start is senior Cara Stricklin.

The second rotation has the team move to beam where the squad will once again feature a lineup full of juniors and sophomores. Becker will lead off and is set to be followed by freshman Allie Riddle. Cerio and redshirt sophomore Emma Slappey will hold down the middle of the lineup with Milliet following and junior Taylor Krippner closing out in the anchor spot. Krippner led the Tigers last year in the event, reaching a career-best 9.925 in February.

Rotation three will have Auburn go on floor where the squad lost three rotations from 2017. Becker will kick things off before freshman Ashley Smith makes her collegiate debut. Cerio, Day, Slappey, and Milliet will all showcase their routines for the Tigers as well.

Auburn concludes the meet with vault and will feature two new faces in freshmen Jada Glenn and Drew Watson. Becker will once again lead off, while junior A'Miracal Phillips makes her first appearance of the season. Day, a sophomore from San Antonio, will anchor the team.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
Auburn's 2018 schedule once again ranks in the Top 10 among the toughest schedules in the nation.

Auburn will face eight teams ranked in the Top 25 of the NACGC/W Preseason Poll. Those include match ups with four teams who competed in last year's Super Six - Georgia (Jan. 19), Florida (Feb. 2), Alabama (Feb. 23 & March 9), and LSU (March 4).

UP NEXT
The Tigers kick off their strong home schedule with an SEC meet Friday, Jan. 12, hosting No. 17 Missouri in Auburn Arena. The two Tiger squads will go head-to-hear at 7 p.m. CT on SEC Network+.

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