2 weeks Ago By JUSTIN LEE [email protected]
Sophia Groth hit the floor routine of her career and the Auburn gymnastics team stormed back in a roaring Neville Arena to take down rival Georgia on Friday night. Groth was sensational. In the anchor spot on floor, in a dead-heat meet tied going into her routine, Groth was nails — and the fan-favorite heard it from The Jungle.
Auburn won with a season-high score of 197.300 to Georgia’s 197.200.
The teams were tied 197.200 when Groth hit the floor. Groth was put to the difficult task of topping a 9.
850 to improve Auburn’s score any and break the tie, and she did it, hitting massive 9.950. Georgia wiltered beam finishing with a 9.
775 in the anchor spot as Neville Arena partied to victory. Groth was big for Auburn while several new faces stepped up to fill in for absent names. Auburn freshman sensation Marissa Neal missed the meet, seen cheering on her team in a walking boot on Friday night.
Her classmate Keko Jong, typically an all-arounder, was also shut down on floor and vault, competing only on bars and beam. Auburn head coach Jeff Graba said after the meet that it’ll be a "couple weeks" for Neal to get back in the lineup, but she certainly should be back before the end of the season. Here’s how Auburn’s scores compared to its road meet last week at Kentucky: Irvine swung her way to a stellar score to start Auburn’s bars rotation, in the leadoff position.
Irvine scored an outstanding 9.950. The first-year Auburn Tiger and transfer from UCLA has improved her score on bars in each of her four starts this season, with the rise getting nearly as high as it gets Friday with judges taking only one minimum deduction.
Irvine’s sensational routine to start bars paved the way for Auburn to score its best bars score of the season so far. Auburn tallied a 49.350 on bars.
The Tigers had a season-high 49.300 in pocket before anchor Keko Jong even got to the apparatus. On floor, two Tigers got their first floor starts of the season in Zancan and Bryn Bartman.
Both were strong, with Zancan scoring a big 9.900 and Bartman scoring a solid 9.850.
It was one of back-to-back 9.9s for Zancan, the sophomore who also matched that score on beam. Zancan also hit a 9.
800 on vault. With Neal out, Jong limited, and Olivia Hollingsworth now out for the season, the Tigers needed veterans to step up Friday night. Groth, the senior, did just that.
Groth scored a strong 9.900 on beam, getting right back in the lineup on three events after she herself was shut down with minor wear on the road last week at Kentucky. Groth was impervious to any rust and as reliable as ever.
She scored a 9.850 on bars and that 9.950 on floor, starting on three events for the Tigers.
Auburn’s still trying to get that hot start to begin the meet. Auburn’s first vault in the first rotation was the score it dropped, a 9.550 miss from Julianne Huff, and in the second spot Sophia Bell could only muster a 9.
775. It was in the No. 3 spot that veteran vault specialist Sydney Schumaker jump-started Auburn with a strong 9.
875 score. Her fellow veteran Sara Hubbard matched that same score next, and Auburn ultimately salvaged a 49.150 on vault.
It’s a middle-of-the-road score for Auburn so far this season. Paige Zancan and Huff have both scored better earlier this season, and the Tigers were also without Jong on vault. Auburn’s score was decent on beam, but down from the truly exceptional 49.
450 that the team scored last week. Auburn performed like one of the best beam teams in the country last week, and it still has that potential, but it’s no surprise Auburn’s score went down without Neal, who had been a true standout on beam so far this season. Meanwhile, Jong and Gabby McLaughlin both had scores they could easily top on a better night for them individually.
Groth and Zancan were both strong, and Auburn will look to recalibrate to try to become an elite beam team again in the scoring category even as the team awaits Neal’s return to the lineup. 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..
