After a bitter loss in last year’s NCATA semifinals, APU’s acrobatics and tumbling team is headed into the upcoming season with a new goal: paying more attention to the team’s skills, rather than the competitors they face.
After losing four seniors and gaining seven freshmen, acrobatics and tumbling head coach Colleen Kausrud claimed that the team had nothing to worry about, and that the freshman “have filled those shoes and then some, so we should have some talent.”
Senior base Gabby Sheffield stated, “The new freshmen have stepped up to the plate and are really showing that they’re ready for competition season.”
In preparation for this year’s season, Kausrud explained that the practices currently emphasize tumbling because “that’s the basis of our sport. A lot of time is spent on that.”
The team spends three hours a week practicing tumbling skills, since many team members are former gymnasts and must now transition from a spring floor to a hard floor. This means that, in order to prevent injuries, the team must learn how to tumble differently.
Coach Kausrud expressed that every opposing team brings a different challenge. She believes that the team must concentrate on their own needs in order to win, rather than changing their routines based on what other teams do.`
“I think every meet is going to be a challenge,” Kausrud said. “You never know what you’re going to hit though. I think we really just have to stay focused, play our game and be our own team, not worry about what they’re doing.”
Senior base Emily Sanchez said that “execution is key” to their sport, and that they do not generally look at their competitors.
“We look at ourselves because we’re our biggest critics,” Sanchez said. “It’s perfection that we strive for.”
“Our goal is to better our score every meet,” Kausrud said. “I want to be able to up our start value every meet if we can. I want our skill level to rise, [and] I want confidence to build. I want them to feel successful in what they’re doing. I want to make sure [that] we walk in feeling confident [at] every meet.”
This season, the team is changing its mindset by working its way up as the season progresses, rather than starting strong and hoping it holds throughout the entire season.
Sheffield states that her main goal for her final season is to see the team progress and glorify God through every new season.
“The season is about the journey, and our goal is ultimately the same,” Kausrud explained. “We want to win, and we want the ring by spring, but really, it’s [about] our journey going through it.
“How do we interact with people? What life lessons have we learned so that we can move forward in life? [Because] after this, this is it,” Kausrud added.
The team will begin its season journey on Thursday, Feb. 11 against Hawai’i Pacific at 6:30 p.m. in the Felix Event Center.