AUreo

Looks like Suni is training a new vault (Montgomery Advertiser) “Graba mentioned that some of the athletes had even upgraded their routines before this meet, which turned out to be key for the victory” (Auburn Plainsman) Auburn now ranked #7 (#3 Florida, #5 LSU, #8 Missouri, #9 Kentucky, #10 Alabama) Next meet vs Iowa State, Jan 21., 7:00pm (SECN+) 'This is our year': Auburn gymnastics, Suni Lee already turning heads in first two meets https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/sports/college/auburn/2022/01/15/suni-lee-auburn-gymnastics-first-two-meets-arkansas/9142404002/ Tigers earn second-highest road score in program history at Arkansas https://www.theplainsman.com/article/2022/01/tigers-earn-second-highest-road-score-in-program-history-at-arkansas

SEC is notorious for over-scoring and many fans of other conferences complain about it every year.

Not sure Suni will compete on vault anytime soon. It’s not her top event and she might want to manage her body during the season. Of course, she would still crush it in NCAA. We now have 4-star commit Julianne Huff who seems to be a VT specialist but she is in the 2023 recruiting class. I keep reading Suni is planning on competing in Worlds and the next Olympics, so body management is crucial. So that would be 2022 Liverpool, UK and 2023 Antwerp, Belgium and of course 2024 Paris. She probably would not be on the team for the 2024 season. Potentially, Olivia Greaves would also focus on Olympic trials in the same year.

This is great for SEC gymnastics. The hype started with UGA and Alabama and then Florida and LSU, now Auburn and Arkansas drawing big crowds. Tomorrow, one of the major networks (ABC) will broadcast the first regular season meet in NCAA gymnastics history (Florida vs Alabama): https://news.yahoo.com/alabama-gymnastics-network-television-history-120013481.html

Generally, we need to improve on vault though. Some of the other teams have several top vault specialists.

Utah with the highest NCAA score this season, they just defeated Oklahoma. Utah could win it all, they are stacked this season. Next 01/07 at UNC (North Carolina Quad Meet) - W 196.300 01/14 at Arkansas (SECN) - W 197.250 01/21 vs Iowa State (SECN+) 01/28 vs Alabama (ESPN2) - I really want to win the Iron Bowl of Gymnastics this year and see the girls do the crimson Crane!

That’s why the home team always has the advantage with the Olympic order (finishing on floor).

Gobourne delivers! Arkansas is very talented and well coached.

Auburn on floor now

That’s exciting!

Next meet tomorrow: Arkansas is pretty competitive and very comparable to Auburn. They have two very talented incoming Fr. in Leah Smith (4star and Nastia Liukin Champion) and Makenzie Sedlacek (4star). The coaching staff is noteworthy and mostly consists of UCLA legends and/or Olympic gold medalists Jordyn Wieber, Kyla Ross, Felicia Hano…they are building an SEC contender in Fayetteville. #8 Auburn at #15 Arkansas FR, 7:30c (SECN) https://auburntigers.com/news/2022/1/13/gymnastics-conference-action-awaits-no-8-auburn-at-no-15-arkansas.aspx It's going to be all hands-on deck this week for us," head coach Jeff Graba said. "Arkansas is a really good team that is really good at home. They moved us to the big arena and with it being a dual meet on national television, the pressure is intensified." - - - - CGN: http://collegegymnews.com/2021/12/17/with-a-strong-freshman-class-and-returning-seniors-arkansas-hopes-for-another-record-breaking-year-in-2022 Since Wieber came on as head coach, she put an effort into promoting the team and increasing the fanbase. This year, the Razorbacks will face Auburn—and Olympic all around champion Sunisa Lee—in Bud Walton Arena on Jan. 14. A meet in Bud Walton, traditionally used for men’s basketball, has been in the works since Wieber’s first year. The goal is to draw 10,000 fans. Meets are usually held in the smaller Barnhill Arena, which Arkansas was able to fill to capacity in 2020 before the season was canceled due to COVID. Wieber predicted that the team’s fanbase will soon “outgrow Barnhill.” Wieber chose the Auburn meet as the one to host in Bud Walton because the teams have been close in their last matchups. In 2020, Auburn beat Arkansas at home, but last year, Arkansas broke a program record score competing at Auburn. Of course, having Lee there will be “really exciting” as well. Though only one will actually be competing, fans will get to see three Olympic gold medalists that night. Wieber and volunteer assistant coach Kyla Ross won gold as teammates at the London Games.

Shop: https://www.prettylittlething.com/shop-by/collections/sunisa-lee.html?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=sunisalee&refresh=1641858011894

Dart could end up at WVU (WVU hired USC OC Harrell today).

Definitely most exciting season in history. Everyone here is focused on Suni but NCAA gymnastics now features other incoming fr. superstars incl World Champions and Olympians such as Riley McCusker, Shilese Jones, Morgan Hurd, and Leann Wong (Florida), Aleah Finnegan (LSU), Jordan Chiles (UCLA), Jade Carey (Oregon St), and the Utah gang (Grace McCallum, Amelie Morgan, and Kara Eaker). Many of these gymnasts are as talented and experienced as Suni.

Next: 2022 Schedule 01/07 at UNC (North Carolina Quad Meet) - W 01/14 at Arkansas (SECN) 01/21 vs Iowa State (SECN+) 01/28 vs Alabama (ESPN2) Some Iowa State update: "The Cyclones were hampered by several key injuries in the preseason. Jade Vella-Wright, Phoebe Turner, Madelyn Langkamp, Natalie Horowitz and Emma Ricks are all expected to miss the season due to injury.”

Next week at Arkansas. That’s a tough opponent.

Nice win against some tough competition. UNC’s Freshman Lali Dekanoidze won the all around. She is a 5-star Freshman and Junior Olympic National Champion.