No. 8 Auburn Defeats No. 16 Missouri, 197.200-196.625

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AUBURN, Ala. (auburntigers.com) – The No. 8 Auburn Gymnastics team defeated No. 16 Missouri 197.200-196.625 Friday in front of 6,243 in Auburn Arena. Senior Catlin Atkinson won all-around honors for third time this season with a 39.625.

“It’s really good (anchoring the lineup),” Atkinson said. “I know that my teammates have done what they know how to do, so I just focus on finishing it up, having fun, and trusting myself. It’s an honor to be able to anchor every event and I take that very seriously. I want to do the best I can for my team.”

Auburn improved to 6-5, 3-3 in SEC competition, while Missouri fell to 5-8, 1-5 in SEC play.

Atkinson got the night started on vault with a 9.875. Junior MJ Rott followed up with a 9.85 and senior Kait Kluz tied her season high with a 9.825. Freshman Taylor Krippner and senior Lexus Demers ended the rotation with a pair of 9.8s to bring the team total to 49.150.

Auburn followed up with season-high 49.375 on bars led once again by Atkinson’s 9.90. The trio of Krippner, Kluz and sophomore Abby Millet swung their way to a 9.875 with Krippner and Kluz tying their season highs. Freshman Samantha Cerio brought the rotation to a close with a career high 9.850.

Auburn entered the third rotation leading Missouri 98.525-98.450.

Atkinson kept things rolling on the beam leading the way with a 9.90. Demers followed with a 9.85, while Krippner set a career high at 9.825. Junior Kullen Hlawek tied her season high at 9.825 and Cerio closed it out with a 9.775 for a final score of 49.175.

It was on the floor where the Tigers showed their stripes to the tune of a season-high 49.500. Atkinson set a season high 9.950 to clinch top honors. Demers, Rott and Hlawek followed up with a trio of 9.90s, which was a season-high for Hlawek. Millet and Kluz posted a pair of 9.85s to close things out.

“It’s the fourth highest total score in school history, but I think we are still struggling to get things going at times,” head coach Jeff Graba said. “I was happy with how we finished and I thought we finished with a lot of energy. The only drawback tonight was that we were starting slow. If we can get past that, we will be a good team at the end.”

The Tigers return to action next Friday at Georgia at 6 pm CT on SEC Network+.