Acrobatics & Tumbling Announces 2015 Schedule
10/22/2014 12:00:00 AM | Acrobatics & Tumbling
WACO, Texas - Baylor Acrobatics and Tumbling head coach Felecia Mulkey announced her squad's 2015 schedule Wednesday, marking its fifth year competing in the National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association (NCATA) and first under Mulkey. The Bears will compete in seven regular season events, including three home events and two tri-meets, before the NCATA National Championships.
"For this season, we just really want to represent Baylor well. I asked the team at the beginning of the year what they wanted, and you would expect the team to say that they want to win a national championship. But their response was that they want respect and want everyone to understand what our sport is. That's really our goal, and my philosophy as a coach is to build a strong program, not a strong team. The athletes on this team have taken on that as well," Mulkey said. "They're really taking a lot of pride in the recruits that we are bringing in and what our actions say about our program. My expectations are just to represent Baylor well, and if we win it will happen organically because we are doing the right things. They've done a great job so far."
The Bears look to start anew and are set to start off the 2015 season at home on Feb. 7 in a tri-meet facing Quinnipiac University and Concordia University Wisconsin at the Ferrell Center. The Bears then hit the road for three straight away meets beginning on Feb. 21 versus King University in Bristol, Tenn., March 9 at Azusa Pacific in Azusa, Calif., and finishing off on March 12 against Oregon in Eugene, Ore.
"Our focus since we started is core strength and getting back to the basics. I believe with any sport that 80 percent of it is mental. We are working on that mental piece and how we will compete. We also want to understand what it means to be a Baylor Bear. It is a lot easier to work hard when you have that mental piece behind it. On the physical end, it really has been back to basics. If you went to practice now you wouldn't see anything big, huge and exciting. It's a lot of core strength and the little pieces to build on."
With 22 letterwinners returning and 13 newcomers, Mulkey's team will start the final stretch of the season at home on March 28 facing Azusa Pacific. The Bears will then head off to compete in their second tri-meet against Fairmont State and Alderson Broaddus in Fairmont, W.Va. BU will then wrap up its regular season at home on April 12 versus Oregon before heading back to Fairmont, W.Va. for the NCATA Championships on April 23-25.
"I really want the Baylor community to realize what we have here. Recruiting-wise, Texas is the hot-bed for this sport. I would fly down to Texas every year when I was at Oregon to recruit. The community has already begun to embrace it, but we really want to get out there. I'm excited for the athletes on this team to feel that, and have the community come in behind them."
Follow @BaylorAcroTumb on Twitter for updates throughout the season.
2015 Schedule (all times listed Central)
2/7 - Quinnipiac/CUW (tri-meet), 6 p.m. -- Waco, Texas
2/21 - Baylor @ King, 5 p.m. -- Bristol, Tenn.
3/9 - Baylor @ Azusa Pacific, 6:30 p.m. -- Azusa, Calif.
3/12 - Baylor @ Oregon, 6:30 p.m. -- Eugene, Ore.
3/28 - Azusa Pacific, 6 p.m. -- Waco, Texas
4/3 - Baylor/Alderson Broaddus @ Fairmont State (tri-meet), 4 p.m. -- Fairmont, W.Va.
4/12 - Oregon, 2 p.m. -- Waco, Texas
4/23-25 - NCATA Championships @ Fairmont, W.Va.
