APU’S acro and tumbling team continues the season with a win against Hawaii Pacific
Azusa Pacific’s acrobatics and tumbling team competed in their first home meet of the season against Hawaii Pacific on Tuesday. The Cougars defeated the Sharks, with a final score of 276.965-264.280.
APU entered the contest with a 1-0 record after beating Arizona Christian in enemy territory. The Cougars secured the victory to remain undefeated with a record of 2-0. This start of the season looks to be exactly what the Cougars needed for this new season.
The Cougars scored a 9.90 out of a possible 10.00 in their toss heat, which ended up being the top score in the compulsory event.
In the second heat of the acro event, Jacie Van de Zilver, Madiha Morris, Kailey Wischer and Beth Magee dominated with a 9.80 out of a possible 10.00. The Cougars defeated the Sharks in the acro event with an overall score of 29.30-27.95 out of a possible 30.00.
The team event is one of the most thrilling routines of the night and is what most fans look forward to when watching. This event showcases all previous events in one final routine coordinated with music. APU’s routine consists of acro, tosses, standing and running tumbling. The Cougars scored 95.84 points out of a possible 107.89 in the team event, ending the meet with a final score of 276.965.
Freshman base McKenna Meyers talked about competing in her first home meet.
“[It was] really exciting and nerve-wracking because there was a bigger crowd cheering for us than there was in the away meets,” Meyers said. “It was exciting to be performing in front of my friends and showing our school what the acro team can do.”
Sophomore top Jacie Van de Zilver gave her thoughts on the rowdy crowd and how it affected her team’s play.
“It was exciting and nice to feel the energy in the crowd,” Van de Zilver said. “I hope everyone keeps coming to support acro for the rest of the season.”
Junior base Shelby Lopez knew that her team excelled in the second half.
“We normally bring it back in the second half and end up taking over all the scores in the second half,” Lopez said. “We get to show how much of a team bond we have in the team routine and show personality in the dance.”
The Cougars’ next home meet is against Oregon on Thursday, Feb. 27 in the Felix Event Center at 7 p.m.