SEC Championship Session One

Recap

The Big Storyline: Despite another week with Sunisa Lee out, Auburn clinched the top spot of the session, led by ever-emerging all-around star Cassie Stevens. While a low vault score kept Missouri from taking the title, a standout performance on bars—led by Helen Hu’s meet-winning 9.950—gave the Tigers the highest score of the session on the event. Floor was a good event for everyone, with seven gymnasts coming together to hold a share of the title. Moore’s and Stevens’ 9.950s on vault hold up with the evening session scores—making the two SEC champions. 

Implications: Missouri snuck back into the top 16, guaranteeing it a seeded spot at regionals. Less lucky was Arkansas, who will enter the postseason in the dreaded 17th position—just outside of the seeded regionals spot.

Records: Missouri matched its bars program record with a 49.400; Helen Hu matched the individual record with a 9.950.

How to Watch

Preview

• No. 5 Auburn | 197.480 NQS | 197.750 season high
• No. 6 Arkansas | 197.050 NQS | 197.475 season high
• No. 7 Missouri | 197.040 NQS | 197.850 season high
• No. 8 Georgia | 196.955 NQS | 197.325 season high

If you can only watch one meet, here’s why it should be this one… Ignore the rankings. Missouri is catching fire at just the right time and is the favorite to win the afternoon session (and if the stars align, could potentially outscore an evening session team or two). Further tipping the scales in its favor, Auburn and Arkansas appear to have rosters in turmoil; Olympic champion Sunisa Lee is questionable for the remainder of the season, and graduate student Bailey Lovett unexpectedly announced her retirement earlier this week. 

If this is one of many meets you’ll be watching, don’t miss this… Team performances aside, there is no shortage of stellar gymnasts who can factor into the individual event titles: Auburn’s Derrian Gobourne is one of the best floor performers in the country, notching 9.975 twice this season. Missouri’s Jocelyn Moore scored the Tigers’ first perfect 10 on vault earlier in the season while teammates Helen Hu and Addison Lawrence have each snagged a 9.975 on beam. Arkansas’s Frankie Price and Norah Flatley each hit 9.975 on floor and beam, respectively, and Georgia’s floor queen Soraya Hawthorne is always one to watch.

What’s the bigger picture to keep an eye on? Missouri is currently just outside the regional seeds at No. 17 but has the opportunity to move into that coveted 16th spot with a 197.500. It’s a tall order but certainly doable, with the Tigers averaging 197.406 in their last four meets. Auburn can’t rise any higher than a three-seed no matter its score but will be looking to score well enough to avoid dropping to a four-seed.

By the Numbers

Past Champions

• Georgia: 16 titles, last won in 2008
• Florida: 11 titles, last won in 2022
• Alabama: 10 titles, last won in 2021
• LSU: 4 titles, last won in 2019

Records Watch

• Team: 198.375 | Vault: 49.800 | Bars: 49.700 | Beam: 49.625 | Floor: 49.725
• All Around: 39.850 | Vault: 10.000 | Bars: 10.000 | Beam: 10.000 | Floor: 10.000

Last Time Out

The Gators ended their six-year SEC championship losing streak by posting a 198.200, the second-highest total in the championship’s 41-year history. Auburn and Missouri posted program best championship scores and finishes (third and fourth, respectively).