APU’s acro and tumbling team remains undefeated after their second faceoff against Arizona Christian
The Azusa Pacific acrobatics and tumbling team dominated in their first home meet of the season against Arizona Christian (ACU), remaining undefeated with a record of 2-0. On Tuesday, the Cougars faced the Firestorm for a second time, again claiming victory with a final score of 277.015-249.170.
From the start of the meet, APU held the advantage over ACU and continued to build off of it until the final event. APU came out with lots of energy, which helped them grab the lead.
In the compulsory event, the Cougars scored a 9.950 out of a possible 10 in the toss heat, which was the top score of the night. The Cougars also score highly in the tumbling event as freshman top, Gabby Spencer, scored a 9.900 in the open pass heat with a start value of 10.
One key moment in the meet for APU came during the duo pass in the tumbling event when sophomore top Beth Magee was unable to complete the final landing of her routine. Magee was examined by trainers, but went on to compete in the six-element pass heat. There, she scored a 9.825 out of 10 and later competed in the team event.
The team event was one of the most exciting routines of the night. This is where all the previous events are showcased in one routine set to music. APU’s routine featured a number of high valued tumbling combinations, pyramids and toss elements. APU scored 96.040 points out of a possible 106.29 in the team event.
Sophomore top Isabella Schmitt noted the importance of playing a team more than once.
“I always like to go against a team a second time because I know where they’re at versus where we’re at,” Schmitt said. “I definitely felt we had a home court advantage because we have our amazing friends and family that came to support us.”
Head coach Colleen Kausrud was proud of the way her team performed.
“We came into the night wanting to beat our score at Arizona, and we did that, so that was awesome,” Kausrud said. “We made some big mistakes that were obvious but they improved a lot. A lot of confidence going into this, so that was a big bonus for us.”
Kausrud said the team excelled in the first half.
“I feel like the whole first half was probably the strongest I’ve seen a team be and just be solid and confident,” Kausrud said. “That was a big plus.”
Looking ahead to the team’s next meet against King University, Kausrud said some goals for the team are to continue upping the start values and executing with confidence.
The Cougars’ next home meet is against the University of Oregon on March 12.