1 day Ago By JUSTIN LEE [email protected]
Keko Jong has competed on the biggest stages on the elite-level circuit, and on the international stage representing Team USA . But Saturday’s meet had something more than even those major-league meets. What was it that set this one apart? Her teammates.
Cherishing the chance to finally compete alongside them and to be part of the team, the highly decorated Jong made her Auburn gymnastics debut last Saturday, starting on all four events for the Tigers in Nashville. She started at anchor on bars and earned Auburn’s best score of the night there at 9.900.
Highly touted and heavily decorated, Jong earned a bronze medal for Team USA on bars at the Baku World Cup last spring , but now she’s experiencing one of the biggest differences, and most enjoyable differences, between elite meets and NCAA meets: Having an entire squad of teammates there during meets cheering and supporting and working together. “What I took away most from that was just, like, how well our team works together,” Jong said on campus this week, ahead of another quad meet this weekend in San Antonio. Last week in Nashville, Auburn collectively met some growing pains scoring a 195.
950. “Just seeing how we have those mistakes and people were coming and supporting, and telling them it won’t happen again and that they’re still doing great — I just saw how supportive our team was.” On the elite circuit, of course, gymnasts compete individually for the most part, and when they do compete internationally for their country’s team, the athletes are only really together for a few days or weeks before going their separate ways again.
At Auburn, Jong gets to practice with, travel with, and connect with 20 other teammates on the roster. “Especially coming from elite, it’s very individual, so it’s nice to have a team to support you,” she smiled. Plus: “It’s a lot more fun and relaxed.
” And was those kind of connections that brought Jong to Auburn in the first place. “Definitely the girls, and the people, and the coaches too,” Jong said. “I love the coaches, because they were so easy to talk to, and I could really tell that they cared about me, and just about my goals.
And also the environment was just so nice. It felt like home.” Originally from Allen, Texas, and competing out of Metroplex Gymnastics, Jong reached the top tiers in the elite world.
She was invited to the same team camps as Suni Lee where Team USA rosters were selected. While she didn’t make the roster for the Olympics, she did earn international assignment on squads that were effectively the Team USA B-team, going to Baku and Jesolo, Italy. With Auburn she’s made an instant impact, starting in the all-around in her first collegiate meet, and on bars competing as the anchor — the last spot to go in the lineup, often reserved for a team’s most clutch and dependable scorer.
“She’s just a really good competitor,” Auburn head coach Jeff Graba said. “She trains at a high level. Look, she comes from a great gym.
Her club program trained her at a high level. She comes with a lot of national and international experience. So the stage is never too big for her.
“She has trained and earned the spot to be near the end of our lineup in every event. I see that as, ‘This is the beginning of something special’ — if she just continues to keep her head down and work and do what she does, she’s going to be really fun to watch.” If there’s a fall or miscue earlier in the rotation, a dependable performer in the anchor position has a chance to erase that mistake.
Meanwhile, the first five up have a chance to compete loose and free if they trust a dependable anchor can clean up any mistakes they make while swinging for a big score. It’s a position of high responsibility on any team. “I feel like my hard work has really paid off,” Jong said.
“I’m glad the coaches trust me in putting me in that position. I just want to keep making sure the team feels safe with me being the anchor. “I mean, I trust the coaches a lot, so I know that I’m going to be good in that spot,” she also said.
“I’m also trusting the girls that are going before me, so just watching them, supporting them, that’s really all I’m thinking about before I go.” After all, cheering on those teammates and being part of that team is what she’s here for — and what she’s enjoying so far. Auburn’s season is still in the early stages, with Auburn next competing Saturday in San Antonio in a meet alongside Arizona State, Temple, Penn State and Maryland.
Auburn then hosts its home opener and conference opener on Jan. 17 against Arkansas. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sports Editor {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
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