By Aidan O’Connor | Sports Writer
No. 1 Baylor acrobatics and tumbling started off the NCATA Championships in dominating fashion, defeating No. 8 Limestone by a score of 279.670 to 246.725 Thursday night at the Elmen Center in Sioux Falls, S.D.
“We left some points on the mat that we’re going to get back tomorrow,” head coach Felecia Mulkey said. “I think we had a good first meet of the championship. I’m proud of them. We worked really hard on our execution, on the in-team event and worked on our consistency for the past two and a half weeks, and they went out and did that today.”
With a 13.72 advantage in start-up value, the Bears (10-0) gained the lead early in Compulsory, scoring 9.52 in the Acro heat, 9.77 in the Pyramid heat, 9.87 in the Toss heat and 8.50 in the Tumbling heat. With the first event concluded, the Bears led the Saints (12-2) 37.675 to 35.175.
In the optional portion of the meet, Baylor scored a Perfect 10 in the 5 Element heat, 9.47 in the 6 Element heat and 9.95 in the 7 Element heat. The Perfect 10 in the 5 Element marked the Bears’ 10th Perfect 10 this season and the third in that specific heat.
“I’ve never had so much confidence in a pyramid, especially a handstand pyramid,” sophomore tumbler Emily Bott said. “[Jordan Gruendler] is just amazing, as always. Every time I see her doing acros, it’s always a 10 in my eyes.”
With halftime approaching, the Bears continued to build on their success in Pyramid with a 9.82 in the Synchronized heat, 9.77 in the Open heat and the Bears’ second-ever Perfect 10 in the Inversion heat at the NCATA Championships. The Perfect 10 was performed by redshirt freshman base Leavy McDonald and senior top Jordan Gruendler as they did a one-handed handstand. Going into halftime, Baylor led Limestone 96.700 to 89.925.
“I feel like we definitely brought a lot more energy into the end of the meet,” Bott said. “Last year, I didn’t feel that much energy on the first day. We definitely left some points out, but it felt very good, and everyone was very confident.”
Baylor scored a 9.60 in the 450 Salto Toss heat, 9.47 in the Synchronized heat and a 9.67 in the Open heat. Baylor’s lead was widening as they were up by 8.625 in the last two events.
In Tumbling, Baylor scored a 9.10 in the Duo Pass, 9.07 in the Trio Pass, 9.32 in the Quad Pass, 9.60 in the Aerial Pass, 9.72 in the 6-Element and a 9.92 in the Open Pass. The Bears came out on top in the event, earning 56.750 points compared to Limestone’s 52.850.
“I think we can actually do better in Team events,” Mulkey said. “We know that we can do better in the Team event.”
In the team event, the Bears finished off the night by outscoring the Saints 97.47 to 77.05. With the final event over, Baylor’s victory was solidified as they defeated Limestone 279.670 to 246.725.
“We can improve tomorrow,” Mulkey said. “We need to go in and hit Tosses, hit Tumbling, hit Team event. That’s always our goal. We want to be a second-half team. That’s what we’re going to focus on tomorrow.”
The green and gold will be back on the mat versus the winner of No. 4 Augustana and No. 5 Fairmont State in the semifinal round of the NCATA Championships at 7 p.m. Friday at the Elmen Center in Sioux Falls, S.D.
