Samantha Cerio is a senior member of the Auburn Tigers gymnastics team. The 5-foot Huntersville, North Carolina native’s collegiate career came to an abrupt end after suffering a gruesome injury to both legs at the NCAA Regional Semifinal in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Cerio was recently named an SEC co-scholar athlete of the year and is majoring in aerospace engineering and will be graduating in May. She has already accepted a job to work for Boeing in Seattle, according to the school’s official website.
Following her injury, Cerio penned an emotional message to the Auburn fans and program to thank them for all of the memories throughout her career.
“Friday night was my final night as a gymnast. After 18 years I am hanging up my grips and leaving the chalk behind. I couldn’t be prouder of the person that gymnastics has made me to become. It’s taught me hard work, humility, integrity, and dedication, just to name a few. It’s given me challenges and road blocks that I would have never imagined that has tested who I am as a person,” she wrote.
“It may not have ended the way I had planned, but nothing ever goes as planned.”
For more photos of Samantha, you can check out her Instagram page and the gallery below.
