No. 16 Auburn at 2018 SEC Championship Saturday

March 23, 2018

No. 16 Auburn at SEC Championship

• Meet Notes
• SEC Network
• Location

MEET

AUBURN, Ala. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" The No. 16 Auburn gymnastics team kicks off the 2018 postseason at the SEC Championship Saturday, March 24. The annual conference meet will take place in St. Louis at Chaifetz Arena.

"We are in a really good position as of now," Graba said. "We're still in striking distance of Nos. 11 or 12 if we score well at the SEC meet Saturday. In the end, the bigger thing for us was to solidify the No. 2 seed in the afternoon session at SECs. We start on bars and end on vault, which has been one of our best events this season. It's going to be a lot of fun Saturday."
The Tigers secured the No. 6 seed at SEC meet.

LSU captured its second-straight SEC regular season title and No. 1 overall seed in the conference meet. Florida, Alabama, and Kentucky will join LSU in the evening session at 6 p.m. CT. Arkansas, Auburn, Georgia, and Missouri will go at 2 p.m. CT and the Tigers will open the meet on bars.

AUBURN IN THE CONFERENCE MEET
The Tigers have experienced a wealth of success under head coach Jeff Graba at the SEC Championship. In his third season with the program in 2013, Graba led AU to a fifth-place finish with a then-program record score of 196.550.

Auburn qualified for the night session for the first time in program history in 2015, scoring a 196.925 to come in fourth. Last season, the squad set a new program record with a 196.975 to earn its second-straight fourth-place finish.

AUBURN LINEUP
The Auburn lineup is full of youth at the SEC Championship as 14 of the 24 routines will come from five freshmen and four sophomores.

The Tigers open on bars with freshman Drew Watson leading off. Sophomore Kendal Moss and junior Taylor Krippner follow with sophomore Gracie Day going fourth. Day is in the Top 15 in the Central Region in the event with a 9.875 RQS following a career-best 9.95 at the annual Elevate Meet two weeks ago. Junior Samantha Cerio is set to go fifth for the squad. The Huntersville, N.C., product has a team-best four titles in the event and is in the Top 10 regionally with a 9.890 RQS. Redshirt junior Abby Milliet is slated to anchor Auburn after earning a season-best 9.925 at Elevate.

Rotation two is beam where four of six Tigers are among the Top 25 in the Central Region. Freshman Allie Riddle will lead off once again with Cerio going second and classmate Meredith Sylvia going third. Riddle is tied for 24th regionally, having a 9.83 RQS. Redshirt sophomore Emma Slappey follows, while Milliet and Krippner will close out the rotation. Milliet is among the nation's best in the event, ranking tied for 20th overall with a 9.9 RQS. Krippner holds a 9.86 score and is tied for 16th regionally, while Slappey is at a 9.845 and 19th in the Central region.

AU will feature a youthful floor squad with two freshmen, two sophomores, and two juniors. Freshman Ashley Smith leads off for the 12th-straight meet and will be followed by Cerio and Watson. Slappey and Day will follow and Milliet will anchor. Slappey recently put together a 9.9 at the Elevate meet to tie her career best. Day is 14th in the Central Region (9.88), while MIlliet is once again among the nation's best at 9.895. Milliet earned a career-high 9.95 and the event title against Alabama to close out the regular season.

Auburn caps the day on vault and is led by Day, Watson, and freshman Jada Glenn. The trio are capable of putting together three-straight 10.0 vaults for the squad. Day has captured three event titles this year and ranks in the Top 40 nationally with a 9.870 RQS. Watson reached a career high vs. Alabama (Feb. 23) with a 9.9 and is tied for 33rd nationally with a 9.875 RQS. Glenn has anchored the event all season for the Tigers. Sophomore Katie Becker will lead off with juniors A'Miracal Phillips and Krippner following. Phillips set a season-best at LSU with a 9.825.

UP NEXT
Auburn will await its NCAA Regional selection being announced Monday at 3 p.m. CT on NCAA.com.

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