AuburnTigers.com
    No. 17 Auburn Gymnastics Travels to No. 33 Ohio State Tigers travel to Ohio State for first coed meet since 2007
    Krissy Voss

    Krissy Voss

    March 11, 2010

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    AUBURN- The No. 17 Auburn gymnastics team (3-5, 2-4) will travel to Columbus, Ohio to take on the No. 33 Ohio State (3-7, 1-3) Buckeyes Saturday, March 13 at 3 p.m. CT from St. John Arena. The meet will be a co-ed event as the No.5 Ohio State men will host No. 2 Oklahoma at the same time. The last time the Tigers took part in a co-ed meet was on March 11, 2007 at Illinois-Chicago in a meet the Tigers won 195.800-193.750.

    The match-up signifies the beginning of a two-meet road swing, as Auburn will conclude its regular season on the road.

    "We're excited to get away from home and get on the road," said head coach Jeff Thompson. "With the men's meet going on at the same time, it is a great way for us to start the push towards the SEC Championships because the rest of the season, we don't alternate, just like this meet. We'll go bars then vault, followed by floor and we'll end on balance beam."

    Saturday's meet marks the second all-time meeting between the Tigers and Buckeyes, as Ohio State holds a 1-0 advantage over Auburn. The lone meeting came last season on The Plains, as the then No. 18 Buckeyes upset the No. 8 Tigers 195.825-195.750. Auburn met its demise on beam, having to count a pair of falls and scored a 47.850 that led to the loss.

    Ohio State is the first opponent Auburn has faced outside of the top 20 in the national rankings, as the Buckeyes are No. 33 with a 194.175 RQS, and own a high score of 195.025 on the season. The team is coming off of a 196.300-194.700 loss to No. 13 Illinois in Champaign on March 5. The meet will serve as Senior Night for the Buckeyes, and will be a Ohio State's final tune-up prior to hosting the 2010 Big Ten Championships on March 27.

    In event-by-event rankings, Ohio State ranks 29th on vault (48.770), 30th on bars (48.605), 26th on beam (48.470) and 34th on floor (48.660). The Buckeyes are led on vault by Hillary Dow (83rd, 9.805), on bars by Rebecca Best (123rd, 9.775), and on floor by their highest-ranked gymnast, Colleen Dean, who is ranked 68th with a 9.810 average. Best is also ranked 79th on beam with a 9.7775 average.

    Junior Rachel Inniss is Auburn's highest-ranked gymnast as she is No. 23 in the country on beam with a 9.845 average, while sophomore Allyson Sandusky is the other Auburn gymnast ranked in the top 30 at No. 27 on bars (9.845).

    Senior Krissy Voss ranks 30th in the all-around competition with a 39.055 average, while four of Tiger beam competitors are ranked in the top 100. Inniss leads the way, and is followed by sophomore Kylie Shields (38th, 9.820), Sandusky (49th, 9.805), and Voss 79th, 9.775).

    In event-by-event rankings, the Tigers are 11th on beam (48.995), 16th on bars (48.920), 17th on vault (49.030) and 35th on floor (48.655).

    "We're not focused on scores, but at this point in the season we know if our girls go out there and do their best we can expect a score in a certain range," Thompson said. "If we go on the road and hit our routines, we can expect to be somewhere between 196-197. If we do that, our RQS could go up a half a point."

    Live stats and video for Friday's meet can be accessed via AuburnTigers.com, while live updates can be found by following AU_Gymnastics on Twitter.

     

     

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