How Katelyn Jong Fits Right In As An Auburn Tiger

06 Feb How Katelyn Jong Fits Right In As An Auburn Tiger

Posted at 18:32h in 2025 NCAA Headquarters, News & Features by Nate Salsman 0 Comments

By Nate Salsman

Inside Gymnastics Intern

By Nate Salsman

Breakout Star

Before college, Katelyn Jong was a standout elite gymnast. She won the Junior National All-Around title in 2021, before moving up to the senior level in 2022, and is a five time United States national team member. With an already successful career, Jong would be a much-wanted member of any college gymnastics team. For Jong, choosing Auburn was an easy decision.

“I chose Auburn because the coaches were really supportive of me, and the culture of the school was really good. Everyone who comes here has a passion for the school,” Jong said. “When I visited, I could feel the vibe. I knew this was gonna be my home for the next four years.”

Prior Experience

While being a member of Team USA, Jong got to compete in many international meets. These competitions helped prepare her for NCAA gymnastics.

“Doing international meets and competing with Team USA, and having the pressure of competing well for a team really helped me prepare for NCAA,” Jong said. “NCAA is very much a team sport, so I think that experience helped me prepare.”

Competing in elite gymnastics requires gymnasts to compete many difficult and challenging skills, in college the focus shifts to perfection. Coming into the NCAA with the massive skill set helped her transition to college.

“The focus changes a little bit. I mean, I was pushing a lot for difficulty, but now it’s more detail-oriented. So, yeah, it’s a little different, but I think the transition was good.”

A Change of Pace

Due to her rigorous training schedule Jong didn’t attend school in person during her time competing as an elite, she took time to adjust to attending classes at Auburn.

“I did online school, so it was different coming and doing public school for the first time,” Jong said. “I really like going to class and learning new things. I think I’ve adjusted without too much issue.”

Jong has also been able to rely on close friend and Auburn teammate Marissa Neal for support. Both athletes competed on the elite level before competing for Auburn and are happy to be on this journey together.

“I’m really happy that I get to have someone I can relate to when it comes to transitioning from elite to college, me and Marissa, we’ve known each other for a really long time and competed against each other and when we came we were roommates,” Jong said. “Then we got along, pretty quickly. We knew each other before, but we weren’t, like, super close. But then as soon as she moved in and we got to know each other more, we became really close friends, and we spent a lot of time with each other in the gym and even outside the gym. So that’s awesome. It’s nice to have such a good relationship with a teammate and also my roommate while competing.”

Another change for Jong is having the support of an entire gymnastics team instead of just a few club teammates. Jong can feel the sisterhood that college gymnastics brings.

“Training with 20 other people, it’s really fun, because people are always cheering during practice, and it keeps the energy up,” Jong said. “Honestly, all the seniors and all the upperclassmen have been really good people that have been supporting us freshmen. I think Sophia Groth has been a big person of support in and out of the gym. So I look up to her as a person too, more than just a gymnast.”

A Blazing Start

Jong has been off to a dazzling start in her young NCAA career. She has earned a 9.9 plus score on every event except for vault, where she has gone as high as 9.875. Jong cites her bar routine against Oregon State where she earned a career high 9.925 as her favorite moment of her career thus far. Jong competes each week with poise and her signature consistency. The secret behind the success may be the time she takes to herself outside of the gym.

“Outside of gymnastics, I like to play guitar, which is something I do to get my mind off of things,” Jong said. “I don’t really have a pre meet ritual because I’m not really superstitious or anything, but Sophia Bell does braid my hair, and that’s really nice! Sophia likes to braid my hair, and I like it when she does it. It’s kind of like a time for us to just chill out together before we compete.”

Jong brings a creativity to her routines that not many gymnasts showcase. Her unique skills include a stalder circle before her difficult full twisting double back dismount on bars (which she almost always sticks) and a standing layout stepout + layout stepout on beam! The reason behind the skills may be slightly unexpected!

“So I’ve always done a circle before my dismount, and I honestly wouldn’t be able to do the dismount without it,” Jong said. “My bar routine technically doesn’t need this stalder, but I do it because it works for me. And then similar situation on beam with the layout + layout, I don’t know how to do a back handspring on the beam! The layout + layout just worked better for me.”

Home Sweet Home

One thing is for certain, Jong has found her home at Auburn. Every week we see her radiating joy and her bright smile shining in front of thousands of fans. Auburn is a school known for their passionate gymnastics fans. For her nothing rivals competing in Neville Arena in front of the rowdy fans.

“You don’t have to create energy, like the fans do it for you, and it’s really fun. And you can feel just how much people pour into the sport and how big of fans they are for us. So it’s really fun competing at home. They really get my energy and my adrenaline going, because they create the energy and they’re supporting and cheering for me.”

The energetic fans give the Tigers support throughout the entire season. Jong is looking forward to competing in a rival meet against Alabama and wants to help Auburn get back to the final four. She also has some goals of her own including getting a perfect 10.0 on bars and becoming an All-American. Catch Jong and the rest of the Auburn Tigers this Friday against Georgia.

Look for Nate’s NCAA Notes each week and stay tuned to InsideGym.com and Inside Gymnastics magazine for spotlight features and interviews throughout the 2025 season!

Nate Salsman, Della Fowler, Megan Roth and Christy Sandmaier provide NCAA coverage for Inside Gymnastics.

Photos by Lloyd Smith for Inside Gymnastics magazine.