Preview of the LSU Auburn match
#3 Tonight is alumni night, and LSU is returning home. The Tigers defeated #19 Georgia on the road last week, 197.625-197.075. They play a fast-rising #12 Auburn team tonight, who just had a huge victory at home. The event will air on the SEC Network at 8:00, featuring the legendary pairing of Kathy Johnson Clarke and Bart Conner on the call. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for those planning to attend alone or as part of a double feature with baseball. Free LSU gymnastics scrunchies will be given to the first 1,500 spectators. The first vault is set to begin at 8:05 p.m., after introductions begin at 7:52 p.m.
LSU has a record of 28-4 at home and 85-18 overall against Auburn. The two teams’ most recent meeting took place in Neville Arena last year, when Auburn defeated LSU 197.750-197.500. The two teams’ most recent PMAC meeting was in 2022, when LSU defeated Auburn 197.975-197.750 while setting a program record for a floor rotation in front of the second-largest attendance in school history. The last time LSU lost to Auburn at home was on 2/17/2006, when #13 LSU was defeated by #17 Auburn 196.700-196.550.
I won’t bring up the preseason poll because it is irrelevant at this stage of the season. Auburn’s 2023 campaign came to a dismal conclusion. They were fifth in the SEC, but because to a bars collapse in their regional semifinal, they were the lowest-finishing SEC team nationally, coming in at number 24.
Six players from the Tigers’ 2023 roster, including Suni Lee, who they lost late in the season, combined for seven NQS routines and one AA score. They brought in a staggering four transfers in addition to six freshmen, one of them was Julianna Huff. The only lineups Madelynn Crow, a sophomore transfer from Georgia, has ever made in her career are those of Anna Hill, a junior transfer from Temple.
Auburn’s current record is 5-5 overall and 1-3 in the SEC. They just defeated Alabama 197.725-197.050 to win their first SEC game and their second straight at home against the Crimson Tide. They are tied for 18th place with Ohio State on the bars (49.183), fifth on the beam (49.250), 12th on the floor (49.408), and 12th on the vault (49.238). It’s evident from the rankings exactly where they stand strong and weak.
Jeff Graba has led Auburn University’s football team for 14 seasons. He is supported by assistant coach Kurt Hettinger, a 16-year veteran whose main responsibilities include recruiting coordinator and bars coach, associate head coach Sara Carver-Milne, a second-year coach who primarily works with beam, and assistant coach Brooke Leonard-Fincher, a first-year assistant with
In terms of vault, bars, beam, and floor, LSU is ranked third [49.392], third [49.454], ninth [49.213], and second [49.538]. The following details are from Savannah Whitten of College Gym News, who spoke with head coach Jay Clark. If Konnor McClain participates in any events, it will be on beam; however, if they deem it too dangerous, she might not go there. It appears that the back issue she was treating, which prevented her from working on the Georgia floor, is still present. She will be replaced on bars by Tori Tatum. Sierra Ballard should be back to lead off floor as her ankles are starting to feel better. Despite not feeling well on Thursday, Savannah Schoenherr is cautiously confident that she will compete. Olivia Dunne is scheduled to replace her on
