Georgia natives enjoy trip home to Gas South Arena for the SEC Gymnastics Championships

Kratzer, a sophomore from Suwanee, and Schreiber, a senior from Cumming, were two of several gymnasts native to Georgia who returned to metro Atlanta to compete for a conference title on Saturday night.

Florida, ranked No. 3 nationally, won the team competition.

With all eight SEC teams ranked in the top 20 nationally heading into conference championships, these gymnasts hailing from Georgia will most likely next represent at NCAA Regionals, with the national championship selection announcement coming Monday, March 20.

For Kratzer, who competed on the floor for Missouri, a meet at Gas South Arena meant the chance to see family, like nieces and nephews.

“It just feels really homey being here,” Kratzer said. “All my family is from here.”

Kratzer’s mother, Vicki Kratzer, said that because many of Missouri’s meets were at home this season, the SEC championship meet was the first that Kratzer’s parents have been able to watch in-person.

Members of Kratzer’s local gymnastics club — Top Notch Training Center, in Peachtree Corners — were also able to watch Kratzer compete live, with a drive less than 20 minutes to the arena.

“For the younger kids who knew her when she was in the gym and watched her go through this and are aspiring to be college gymnasts as well, [they] can see her live without having to travel,” Vicki said. “It’s cool.”

Schreiber, an alum of West Forsyth High School and Alpharetta’s Infinity Gymnastics, competed in the all-around for the Tigers. She was able to reconnect with childhood gymnastics friends who came to watch her compete.

“They’re all grown up now,” Schreiber. “It’s so different seeing them. It was so great to see them and my childhood family friends, too.”

A passionate group of Missouri friends and family — some local to Georgia, some who traveled to the meet from Missouri or beyond — sat in the stands in front of the floor event, waving bright yellow pom poms with each stuck landing.

“I feel like [competing in front of people you know] can change things, like ‘Oh my gosh, these people know me and want to see how I’m doing,’” Schreiber said. “I think if you have the mindset, ‘They’re here for me. They're supporting me whether I do good or bad. They’re going to be here for me.’ Knowing that and putting that into our gymnastics helps us.”

Seeded seventh, Missouri finished sixth overall and second in the afternoon’s Session I against Auburn, Georgia and Arkansas. Missouri jumped out to an early lead after its first rotation on bars, then struggled with vault, before closing the gap but ultimately falling short of Auburn, who finished fifth, by 0.100.

“We fought through the entire meet,” Kratzer said. “We came back [after vault], we attacked bars, we did what we knew how to do, and honestly we went out there and showed that we are here to compete.”

The SEC Championship event returned to Gas South Arena for the first time since 2015. The event was initially slated for Duluth in 2020, but the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdowns canceled the meet.

The cancellation delayed a homecoming for then-freshman Schreiber. The week lockdown began, Missouri was scheduled to travel to Athens to compete against Georgia, then to return to the state for the SEC meet the next week.

“I was looking forward to it so much,” Schreiber. “It would have been so cool back-to-back to have all my friends from gym and all my family be able to go, so that kind of was sad.”

But, three years later, that homecoming has arrived.

“It’s just so exciting to be back where we’re from,” Schreiber said. “We know the streets. We were coming back from the airport, and we were like we literally know where to go, so that was pretty cool.”

At the meet, other gymnasts with Georgia connections included Louisiana State University junior Chase Brock, who graduated from Denmark High School. She competed for LSU alongside Elena Arenas, who hails from Athens and North Oconee High School, alongside former North Oconee teammates who were also at the meet — Savannah Schoenherr, a graduate student for Florida, and Lila Smith, a sophomore for Kentucky. University of Georgia freshman Nicole King is from Johns Creek, and Auburn sophomore Ananda Brown is a Gwinnett local, having graduated from Lanier High School in Sugar Hill.

The Georgia Bulldogs finished eighth at the meet. Alabama and LSU rounded out the top three, behind Florida, which won its 12th conference title.