Auburn gymnastics couldn’t have asked for a tougher situation to start its 2024 campaign than its dance in the Mean Girls Super 16 Gymnastics Championships in Las Vegas Saturday night.

The Tigers were far from home, on the west coast of the country and were teeing it off against three teams inside the top 10 in No. 5 UCLA, No. 7 Cal and No. 8 Alabama. Instead of Saturday night’s quad meet feeling like the first of the season, it felt more like a postseason-caliber competition.

Auburn finished third in the field with a final score of 196.600 — the second-highest season-opening score in program history, head coach Jeff Graba revealed in his post-meet interview.

Meanwhile, it was No. 8 Alabama who came away with the top score of 197.125, followed by Cal’s 196.850. At the hands of a late-meet collapse, UCLA finished fourth with a score of 196.550.

The good news for the Tigers? Through the ups and downs of Saturday’s season-opening meet against some of the best in the country, Auburn never looked like it didn’t belong under the same roof.

“When you put Auburn on the floor with these other three teams that were amazing, y’all fit,” said former LSU head coach D-D Breaux, who acted as one of the event’s three broadcasters.

Graba agreed.

“I felt that,” Graba said. “I just feel like we lose Suni (Lee) and we lose Derrian (Gobourne) and everybody’s like, ‘Well, they’ve got a two-year rebuilding cycle.’”

However, after Saturday’s showing, it doesn’t appear the Tigers will be needing quite that long to get back to the team they were when Lee and Gobourne were on the roster.

But it will take time, as evident by Auburn’s sluggish and cautious start on its first apparatus.

To knock off an offseason’s worth of rust on a 4-inch-wide balance beam is a tough ask. But that’s what the Tigers drew to open their 2024 campaign.

On beam for the Tigers was Olivia Hollingsworth (9.850), Aria Brusch (9.800), Hannah Hagle (8.950), Sophia Groth (9.725), Cassie Stevens (9.750) and Gabby McLaughlin (9.850).

Auburn went on to scrap Hagle’s score after the sophomore came off the beam, giving the Tigers a 48.975 after the first rotation.

“I thought we were really cautious at the beginning and you can’t do that,” Graba said.

Sitting in fourth place after the first rotation, the Tigers made their second stop to the floor, where Auburn freshman and Hoover native Julianne Huff made her first appearance in an Auburn leotard and went on to make the most of the moment, posting a 9.850 in her first ever college event.

Meanwhile, Stevens and Hollingsworth brought up the rear, both posting 9.900s. Hollingsworth’s solid score was a testament as she slid into the anchor slot on floor — a position previously held by Gobourne.

“We lost seven of our anchor routines last year,” Graba said. “We’ve got a lot of new people. We have new people, but we also have people in new roles. And everybody just needs to start to figure everybody out.”

Auburn’s pass at the bars was the Tigers’ best of the night as they scored a 49.325 with Stevens leading the way with a 9.925, tying her career high.

Groth, Hollingsworth and Stevens all competed in the all-around competition Saturday night, with Hollingsworth leading the charge for Auburn.

Hollingsworth finished fourth in the all-around competition having posted a total score of 39.450.

“She set the tone,” Graba said of Hollingsworth. “It’s amazing to me how far she’s come. You know, he had the injury her freshman year, we thought she was going to break into the all-around that year. She just worked her butt off for this and she deserves it.”

Following Saturday’s meet, Graba and the Tigers will look ahead to their home opener against No. 9 Kentucky, which is coming to Neville Arena on Jan. 12 after the Wildcats scored a 196.775 in their time at the Mean Girls Super 16 on Friday.

Knowing a meet score of 197 is the goal to compete in the SEC, Graba is focused on getting the Tigers to that mark in the coming two weeks.

“We’re still not up to speed on a couple of events,” Graba admitted. “To me, it’s just exciting to see the potential. Second-highest opening score in history and we’re trying to bounce back from losing two anchors in every event.”