WACO, Texas - The top-ranked Baylor Acrobatics & Tumbling team (9-0) will travel to Fairmont, W.Va., to compete in the 2015 National Collegiate Acrobatics & Tumbling Association (NCATA) National Championships hosted by Fairmont State University at Joe Retton Arena. The championships begins Thursday, April 23, at 1 p.m. (CT) with the individual finals, followed by the team championships April 24-25.

"This team feels amazing going into the national championships. I met with some of the girls yesterday and the overall feeling is that we've had such an amazing season, so a national championship would be the ultimate icing on the cake," head coach Felecia Mulkey said.

The Bears qualified for a program-record 13 individual events including Acro 5 Element, Acro 6 Element, Acro 7 Element, Pyramid Heat 1, Pyramid Heat 2, Pyramid Heat 3, Toss Heat 1, Toss Heat 2, Toss Heat 3, Tumbling Duo, Tumbling Trio, Tumbling Quad and Tumbling Aerial. Three Bears made the Tumbling Aerial final, while two Baylor teams qualified for the Tumbling Trio, Tumbling Quad and Acro 5 Element.

A total 28 athletes qualified to compete in the Individual Finals, another program-best. Freshman Toni Bronisevsky lead the way by qualifying for six events, followed by freshman Shayla Moore, sophomores Kiara Nowlin and Kaelyn Cowan, and seniors Ally Cheatham and Bresha Pierce who qualified for five events each. A total of 18 student-athletes qualified to compete in at least two events.

"The individual championships are a lot of fun for the girls, but we don't but a lot of emphasis on that because we prepare so much for the team championships," Mulkey said. "I think that our tumbling is going to be a standout in the Individual Finals. We have the potential to standout in all the other events except for Toss, but it'll just depend on how we show."

On the second day of championship action, No. 1 seeded BU will take on eighth-seeded King University Friday, April 24 at 1:45 p.m. (CT). The Bears last saw King back on Feb. 21, when Baylor pulled off its first road win of the season, 276.595-250.795. If the Bears advance, it would set up a semifinal matchup with the winner of No. 5 Quinnipiac/No. 4 Azusa Pacific. BU opened up the season with a tri meet victory over Quinnipiac and Concordia University Wisconsin on Feb. 7. Baylor is 2-0 versus Azusa Pacific, picking up a road win on March 9 (283.720-276.380) and a home victory on March 28 (285.675-272.425).

"We just have to execute against King in order to advance. Our start values are a lot higher than theirs overall," Mulkey said. "They're a great team that is very well-coached and have improved immensely since the first time we saw them. If we just execute, we should be okay."

This is the first time in program history that the Bears have earned the overall No. 1 seed. The highest seed that Baylor has received in the NCATA National Championships came in 2011 and 2014 where the Bears earned a No. 4 seed. BU has competed against all but one school that made the 2015 NCATA National Championship - No. 2 Hawaii Pacific.

The tournament is an eight-team bracket in which the bottom four seeds face the top four seeds in the first round on Friday. The winners will advance onto the semifinals Saturday morning with the final two teams standing competing in the national championship final Saturday at 6 p.m. (CT).

To keep up with the latest on the 2015 NCATA National Championships with the Championship Central website: CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL.

A live stream of all the action will be on a pay-per-view access at LIVE STREAM.
Pricing for each day of competition goes as follows:
Tournament Pass (All-Sessions): $29.95
Individual Event Finals (Thursday, April 23): $9.95
NCATA Quarterfinals (Friday, April 24): $14.95
NCATA Semifinals & Finals (Saturday, April 25): $19.95

2015 NCATA Tournament Schedule
(all times central/CT)

Individual Event Finals - Thursday, April 23, 2015 (1 p.m.)

Quarterfinals - Friday, April 24, 2015
#5 Quinnipiac vs. #4 Azusa Pacific - 11 a.m.
#8 King University vs. #1 Baylor - 1:45 p.m.
#6 Alderson Broaddus vs. #3 Oregon - 4:30 p.m.
#7 Fairmont State vs. #2 Hawaii Pacific - 7:15 p.m.

Semifinals - Saturday, April 25, 2015
Quinnipiac/Azusa Pacific winner vs. King/Baylor winner - 9 a.m.
Alderson Broaddus/Oregon winner vs. Fairmont State/Hawaii Pacific winner - 11:30 a.m.

National Championship Meet - Saturday, April 25, 2015
Semifinal #1 winner vs. Semifinal #2 winner - 6 p.m.