Where Auburn gymnastics goes after starting 'too slow' on the road again
Auburn's lineups saw struggles from the top down Sunday at Georgia, though there are still possibilities for the Tigers moving forward. Here's a look at what happened, and what could be next.
For some time now, the mantra for Auburn gymnastics under head coach Jeff Graba has been: “Be your average.”
That’s the phrase his gymnasts have said to themselves countless times. Suni Lee won Olympic gold medals on the other side of the world while repeating that message to herself. It’s worked.
It doesn’t mean “be average,” as in to be middle of the road, or to be ho-hum, but it’s meant to encourage a gymnast to just do their normal — when their normal is pretty good. It encourages them to refrain from overextending, or feeling the pressure to be perfect under the spotlight, and to instead just do what they do in practice on a regular basis, on a regular day, normally.
The problem for Auburn gymnastics right now is that, by all accounts, from the athletes and coaches inside Auburn’s practices, Auburn has not been able to be its average in road meets this season.
Auburn struggled through another tough road meet to finish with a low 196.050 on Sunday night at Georgia. Though the Tigers remain confident that they’re better in practice than they’ve performed so far this season — particularly in bad road performances at Arkansas and Georgia — they haven’t yet been able to put those performances down in meet time when live bullets are flying.
“We’re still starting too slow on the road. This young group simply has to figure out how to compete the way they practice,” Graba said in a release from the university. “This was a really tough environment, but it was a great opportunity for us to get better as a team. I think we did that even though the score doesn’t reflect it as much as I was hoping.”
The judges didn’t give Auburn any gifts Sunday, with the Tigers’ scoring capped at 9.900 all night — but regardless of the scoring, Auburn wasn’t its sharpest in doing the things it can control.
Here’s a deeper look at Auburn’s meet at Georgia: