Inside the build for Auburn's bars lineup, confident it can swing its way to higher scores against rival Georgia
Auburn's bars group was much-maligned after a tough outing earlier this season at Arkansas. Heading back on the road to face Georgia, the Tigers look to prove something in the rivalry meet.
Jeff Graba played a card from up his sleeve last Friday, when he warmed up nine gymnasts on bars instead of eight.
After a rough road meet for the bars group at Arkansas, the Auburn head coach shook up the usual pre-meet routine: Typically, in lieu of naming starters in advance, Graba names a top eight going into each meet, with all eight of those warming up the night of the meet before the team goes back into the locker room — and that’s where the coaches will then finalize lineups, based in part on who warmed up the best.
Graba threw a wrench in that last Friday, adding Hannah Hagle to the mix on bars to challenge the others for a starting spot. He can do that: It’s his own rule that he can change, his own pre-meet routine — an Auburn thing, not something standard across the NCAA or anything like that. And, in the grand scheme, it’s only a small tweak and certainly not a panic button being pressed by Graba, who still has high confidence in his bars group.
But if there was ever a time to throw a little wrench in things like that, it was probably after Auburn’s meet at Arkansas, when the Tigers scored a forgetful 48.750 on bars. It was by a fair stretch Auburn’s lowest team score on any apparatus this season. Auburn’s bars score only dipped below 49 six times total in the previous four seasons.
Now, with a few tweaks like that one being made, and with an influx of competition joining the fold — and with a true standout returning to the lineup — Auburn stands confident that it’s capable of taking a major step forward on bars in its second road meet of the season Sunday at rival Georgia.
Here’s why: