Special to the News

02/06 at 12:55 AM

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The No. 16 Auburn gymnastics team scored a season-best score of 196.425 and hit season-best marks on vault, beam and bars, but a 197.025 score from No. 7 Arkansas was too much for the Tigers to overcome as Auburn fell to the Razorbacks on Friday night in Barnhill Arena.

Allyson Sandusky led Auburn, scoring a trio of 9.85s while senior Krissy Voss set a career-high in the all-around with a 39.225.

“I’m proud of the girls. This is always a tough place for us to compete,” said head coach Jeff Thompson. “We got off to a great start. We have to get better on floor, but we went to beam and rocked that event in the last rotation and had them under pressure.”

The Tigers began the night on the bars, an event that Auburn entered the night tied for 17th in the country in. Auburn began on a strong note, scoring a team season-best of 49.125 as Auburn was led by sophomore Kendall Swartz’s season-high 9.875, as well as fellow sophomore Allyson Sandusky’s solid 9.85 to tie for third. Swartz’s mark gave her a second-place finish overall in the meet.

The Razorbacks scored a 49.300 on vault, as all six competitors scored at least a 9.8. Jamie Pisani had the high mark for Arkansas, scoring a 9.95. Casey Jo Magee chipped in a 9.875 as the Razorbacks led after one rotation 49.300-49.125.

On vault, sophomore Kylie Shields led off with a season-best 9.8, setting the tone for what was Auburn’s top vault performance on the season with a 49.200, eclipsing the previous high mark that was established in the LSU meet.

Freshman Toi Garcia and Sandusky followed with 9.85s, while sophomore Justine Foster scored a career-high 9.9 to lead the Tigers and place second in the event.

Arkansas once again answered the Tigers, as Magee scored 9.925 on bars to lead the Razorbacks to a 49.250 in the event and carry a 98.550-98.325 advantage into rotation three.

On floor, Foster and junior Lauren Brzostowski each scored 9.775s to eclipse their season-bests. Voss followed in the fifth spot with a 9.825, while junior Rachel Inniss hit a 9.85 as the anchor to give Auburn an event tally of 48.875.

The Razorbacks were paced on beam by Magee, who continued her stellar night with a 9.95 on the apparatus, while Amy DeFillipo score a 9.875 as the Razorbacks scored a 49.350. Auburn trailed 147.900-147.200 heading into the final rotation.

In rotation four, Hurley tied a career-best with a 9.85 for the Tigers, while Sandusky followed with her third 9.85 of the night. Inniss then tied her career-best for the second time this season, hitting a 9.875 to tie for second. She was followed by Shields, who closed out Auburn’s night with a 9.85, resulting in the Tigers scoring a season-best 49.225.

Arkansas closed out the night on floor with a 49.125, as Magee and Pisani led the Razorbacks with 9.875s.

“Tonight wasn’t a runaway, but congratulations to them with a school-record 197.025. Hats off to our kids. They showed guts, they competed to the end and that’s what we want. We’re looking forward to next week, heading to Kentucky and taking on another great team,” said Thompson.

Auburn returns to action next Friday in Lexington, Ky., as the Tigers take on Kentucky.

The meet will begin at 6 p.m. from Memorial Coliseum.

Track fares well on Day 1 at Penn State
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — The Auburn men’s and women’s track and field teams had a light opening night of competition Friday at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup hosted by Penn State, but the Tigers still had a successful night.

Despite having competitors in a limited number of events on Friday, Auburn still managed to dominate two events in particular, taking the top three spots in both the men’s 60-meter dash and the women’s 60-meter hurdles, with five NCAA provisional qualifiers among the group.

“We didn’t have a lot of people competing but it was a really big night,” said head coach Ralph Spry. “We put up some very fast times. I was impressed with what happened tonight, and we expect a lot of the same thing tomorrow.”

Three Tiger women had career-best times and NCAA qualifying marks in the 60-meter hurdles. Junior Krystal Bodie won the event with a time of 8.30 seconds that ranks third in school history at that distance and tied for 11th in the NCAA this year.

Senior Danielle Gilchrist was just .01 seconds behind, finishing in 8.31 seconds and improving her career best by .01 seconds.

While Bodie and Gilchrist improved on times that had already qualified them for the NCAA indoor meet, senior Amelia Anderson qualified for the first time this year, finishing third in a personal-best 8.34 seconds.

Also for Auburn, junior Latoya Parkinson finished fifth in 8.64 seconds.

In the men’s 60 meters, Auburn also took the top three spots, with the top two runners posting regional qualifying marks. Sophomore Marcus Rowland won the event with a time of 6.64 seconds, just shy of his nation-leading mark of 6.61, while sophomore Harry Adams improved his season-best mark and national standing by placing second in 6.67 seconds.

Junior Michael DeHaven placed third with a season-best time of 6.78

“The ladies in the hurdles stepped up big time and put up some solid national qualifying marks,” said Spry. “Marcus ran a great race and had his second-best time ever, and Harry was really impressive — he just gets faster each weekend.”

Meanwhile in the women’s 60 meters, senior Shaquela Williams and sophomore Nivea Smith tied for fourth place with identical times of 7.58 seconds

Also for Auburn on Friday, junior Gerard Brown finished fifth in the long jump with a mark of 6.84 meters (22-5.25).

Auburn will have a busier schedule today, when competition at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup concludes.

Pair of Tigers compete at Jones Cup
SEA ISLAND, Ga. — Auburn golfer Blayne Barber (1-over) wrapped up Friday action at the prestigious Jones Cup Invitational carding an opening round 73, tying with University of Alabama’s Hunter Hamrick for seventh place in an 84-player field.

The Jones Cup is hosted by Ocean Forest Golf Club, a course annually rated among the top 100 in the nation.

Currently redshirting his sophomore season after transferring to Auburn from Central Florida, Barber continues to tear it up on the links.

The Lake City, Fla., native recently earned medalist honors at the 2009 St. Augustine Am, shooting an even-par 210 for a three-stroke win over Port Orange, Fla., native Wesley Graham. Dominating the 2009 Florida Am, Barber emerged a nine-stroke winner over Auburn signee Blake Soni, carding an 11-under 277.

Also competing in the Jones Cup was Auburn sophomore Kyle Kopsick (6-over). The Chicago native finshed the day tied for 34th, carding a 78. Kopsick finished Fall collegiate play leading all Tigers with a team-low 71.30 scoring average. Kopsick earned medalist honors at the 2009 Gary Koch Intercollegiate, setting two school records in the process.

The pair of Tigers return to action today for second-round play.

Barber has been paired with Hamrick and University of Tennesse golfer David Holmes for an 8:30 a.m. tee time off the back nine.

Kopisick is paired with University of Florida freshman Tommy Wou and three-time Alabama State Junior medalist Bobby Wyatt at 9:40 a.m. off the front.