Auburn is headed back to the NCAA championship, and Suni Lee helped the team bounce back from a shaky opening rotation.
The Olympic gold medalist hit another perfect beam routine during the regional final, lifting Auburn from fourth place to second heading into the third round. The young star recorded her first perfect score on the event back in late February, the same night she debuted the Nabieva for the first time in NCAA history.
At the start of the meet, Lee made an uncharacteristic error on the uneven bars. The reigning Olympic all-around champion posted a 10.0 on the event—the first perfect score of her collegiate career—just six meets into her freshman season. However on Saturday, Lee made a mistake, hitting her fit on the low bar. It resulted in a 9.725 score.
Beam was a turning point for Lee and the Tigers squad as the Olympian bounced back. By the end of the second rotation, Auburn was only .525 from first-place Florida, and there was a .125 gap between Auburn and third-place Denver. A team score of 49.5 on floor exercise for Auburn put the Tigers in position to lock up a ticket to nationals.
Lee closed out the vault rotation with a score of 9.875, the team's second highest score on the event behind Drew Watson’s 9.975. Auburn finished second overall behind Florida, which ended the day with a total of 198.775. Both SEC squads will now head to the NCAA championship slated for April 14-16.
Lee was not the only gymnast to score a perfect 10 Saturday night. Florida freshman Leanne Wong, who won a silver medal at the 2021 World Championship and was a 2020 Olympic alternate, tallied a 10.0 on vault while teammate Trinity Thomas was also flawless on vault and floor.
Auburn had to withdraw from the NCAA regional championship last season due to positive COVID-19 tests and subsequent contract tracing within the program. It was originally slated as the No. 15-seed heading into that competition.
