Auburn’s Suni Lee opens 2023 with SEC Gymnast of the Week honor

Auburn’s Suni Lee opens 2023 with SEC Gymnast of the Week honor

Suni Lee’s collegiate swan song started out with a bang — a perfect 10 — and now an SEC weekly honor.

Lee was named the SEC Gymnast of the Week on Tuesday after her performance during Auburn’s appearance in the Super 16 showcase in Las Vegas on Saturday. Lee recorded her first perfect 10 of her sophomore year on beam while earning the all-around title at the event with a total score of 39.750.

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Lee’s 10 on the beam was the fourth of her career on that apparatus for the defending NCAA individual champion. Led by Lee’s 39.750, which was the top all-around score in the country so far this season, Auburn posted a 197.350 team score, which represented a program record in a season opener.

Lee finished with no lower than a 9.9 in each event in Las Vegas. She earned a 9.9 on the vault and on floor while finishing with a 9.95 on uneven bars. Her 9.9 on vault helped Auburn finish with a 49.500 on the apparatus, which gave the Tigers the best vault score in the country to open the season and matched the program record on the apparatus.

Lee, the defending Olympic all-around champion, announced in the fall that this season would be her last competing at the collegiate level, as she eyes a defense of her Olympic title at the 2024 games in Paris. Lee and Auburn will open SEC competition Friday in Gainesville, Fla., against Florida, last year’s national runner-up, which is led by defending NCAA all-around champion Trinity Thomas. The meet is set for 6:30 p.m. and will air on ESPN2.

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.