By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            While art galleries have private showings to feature the new works of talented artists, Baylor acrobatics & tumbling unveiled some of its new work before a season-opening crowd Sunday afternoon at the Ferrell Center.
            Breaking out the "ring" and the "pencil," a pair of never-before-competed elements performed by junior base Bayley Humphrey and sophomore top Jordan Gruendler, the Bears dominated West Liberty University, 267.050-238.510, in the 2023 opener for the seven-time defending NCATA national champions.
            "With Jordan and Bayley, we have the ring and the pencil that they put out there," Baylor coach Felecia Mulkey said. "But what Riley (Chimwala) and (Emily) Tobin did today had never been competed before in acrobatics & tumbling, the toe pitch to the top and then the wrap-around to the top. . . . I'm really proud of acro. We've got some work to do in the second half."
            The second half may need some work, particularly the six-heat tumbling event, but Baylor swept all 19 heats and the closing team event to ultimately win the head-to-head meeting over the visiting Hilltoppers by 28.54 points and extend its winning streaks to 17-straight overall and 35-consecutive at home.
            "We were able to shake off some nerves," said junior tumbler Kristen McCain. "I also think it's just good for the freshmen, too, to really see what the sport is about. Because I know my freshman year coming into it, I had no idea. But once you get that first meet, and you get your nerves out, you see how much fun and what a great opportunity it is to compete at the next level."
            Dominating from the start, the Bears had nearly a 5 ½-point lead after the four-heat compulsory event, recording scores of 9.75 in acro, 9.80 in pyramid, a near-perfect 9.95 in toss and 8.75 in tumbling.
            In the seven-element heat of acro, Baylor scored a 9.75 with a routine that included the ring, where Gruendler effectively touches her feet to her hands to make a circle in a hand-to-hand connection with Humphrey.
            "It's something I've competed for quite a few years in my gymnastics background," Gruendler said. "It was cool to be able to bring it to this sport. I love being able to expand the horizons like that and open new doors for other people that might have those types of skills and be like, 'Oh, maybe that's something I could do in college,' something just to see themselves out there."
            The seven-element heat also included the pencil, a one-arm handstand balanced on Humphrey's one-hand hold.
            When Gruendler and Humphrey brought the idea to Mulkey, she submitted it to the scoring committee "and have them approve that it scores a 10."
            "We did submit a 10, maybe a 12," Mulkey said jokingly. "It was approved as a 10."
            That same duo combined for Baylor's only 10.0 score in heat 1 of pyramid when they executed what Gruendler dubbed the "Tower of Terror."
            At the halfway mark, through three events, Baylor had a double-digit lead at 96.90-85.85.
            Coming out of the intermission, the Bears had scores of 9.35, 9.15 and 9.55 in the toss event in stretching the lead to more than 15 points.
            While three of Baylor's lowest scores came in the duo, trio and quad heats of tumbling, the Bears finished strong with sophomore Aliyah Kaloostian scoring 9.325 in the aerial pass, McCain performing a near-flawless six-element in getting a 9.80 and senior Kamryn Kitchens closing the event with a 9.675 in the open pass.
            Approaching assistant coach Kelsey Rowell after sticking her landing, an elated McCain said, "I stayed on the mat!"
            "I'm actually really proud of that pass because it already looks a lot better than when I competed it at the national championship," McCain said. "I've just really been focusing on little things like getting my feet together and making sure my 1 ½ (twist), that there's no continuity going into the roundoff. I thought I did really good for the first meet, just getting out the nerves."
            Mulkey said one reason for the lower tumbling scores was the gymnastic officials not just judging on synchronization, "they were looking at the actual skill and execution."
            "They were nit-picking, which is good for us in the end," she said. "We have a pretty big arsenal tumbling-wise, so who you see this week may not be who you see next week. We'll keep fiddling with that until we find the right combo."
            Shaking some things up in the team event, Baylor had a few bobbles and steps off the mat, scoring an 87.45 to the Hilltoppers' 81.46 to finish off the meet.
            "I think I was overwhelmed with a lot of emotion before we went on," Gruendler said, "and I couldn't even really sort through it. There was so much up there. I would just classify it as excitement, because that's what I want to feel it was, that's what I'm going to say it was. But it was a ton of fun."
            Although she was pleased with the season-opening win, Mulkey said the Bears have "lots of work to do" before next Saturday's meet against Trine University in Andola, Ind. Baylor's next home meet will be Feb. 19 against Presbyterian College.
            "Some really high highs," Mulkey said, "and I wouldn't say too low lows, but not really where we wanted to end."


WACO, Texas – The Baylor acrobatics and tumbling team won the first meet of the season, 267.050 – 238.510, over West Liberty on Sunday in the Ferrell Center.
 
The Bears (1-0) defeated the Hilltoppers (0-1) by 28.54 points overall to continue a 17-meet winning streak, dating back to March 27, 2021.
 
THE RUNDOWN
BU overtook WLU in every event, not dropping a single heat. 
 
Starting off the meet, Baylor had three compulsory scores in the 9.0 range, only dipping slightly below that in tumbling. The Bears had a 9.75 in Acro, 9.8 in Pyramid, 9.95 in Toss and 8.75 in Tumbling to finish with an overall Compulsory Event score of 38.25 in comparison to the Toppers' 32.95.
 
Moving into the optional portion of the meet, Baylor had a score of 9.85 in Heat 1, 9.35 in Heat 2 and 9.75 in Heat 3 to total 28.95 for the event. The Bears continued to compete elements new to the NCATA as they did in 2022, as Heat 3 (7 Element) saw Jordan Gruendler compete a "ring" where she effectively touches her feet to her hands to make a circle in an inlocate hand-in-hand element, and "pencil", a one-arm handstand balanced on base Bayley Humphrey's one arm. WLU scored an 8.55, 7.65 and 9.10, respectively, to total 25.30 for the event. Going into the third event, BU was up 67.20 to West Liberty's 58.25.
 
BU started off hot in Pyramid Heat 1 with a perfect 10.0 with Gruendler as the top and Humphrey as the main base executed what Gruendler dubbed the "Tower of Terror" in 2022. The second and third heat each scored a 9.85 to total 29.70 for Pyramid as a whole, the running total coming to 96.90 for BU. Heat two, the synch heat, again saw new-to-NCATA elements. The tops of the twin pyramids, Emily Tobin and Kamryn Kitchens, arrived on the main base via high walk-in. WLU had an event total of 27.60 to have a running total of 85.85 through halftime.
 
In the Toss Event, Baylor had scores of 9.35, 9.15 and 9.55, respectively, to total 28.05 for the event. West Liberty scored an 8.05, 7.50 and 8.45 respectively to total 24.00. Going into the fifth event, the Bears were up 124.95 to the Hilltoppers' 109.85.
 
In the Tumbling Event, the Duo Heat saw junior Kristen McCain and freshman Alyiah Thomas compete and score an 8.25. In the Trio heat, Kitchens, Catie Wilkins and Rakel Jeffries scored an 8.85. The Quad pass had Katie Shiffer, Gianna Cameron, Savanna Cecil and Tobin score an 8.75. Aliyah Kaloostian competed the Aerial Pass, scoring an impressive 9.325 from the sophomore. McCain competed the 6 Element pass and scored the highest of all the heats at 9.8, competing two whips into a 1.5 twist. The Open pass was competed by Kitchens, scoring a 9.675. The Bears' total came to 54.650 for the heat while WLU scored a 47.20. Going into the day's final event, BU was up 179.60-157.05 on the Toppers for a 22.55-point lead.
 
In the Team Event, Baylor once again saw Humphrey and Gruendler compete the ring and shake some things up in the flow of the routine. Overall, the Bears scored an 87.45 to total 267.05 for the entire meet, besting West Liberty's Team Event score of 81.46 and total score of 238.510 for the meet win.
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Baylor extends its win streak to 17 meets in a row
• The Bears didn't drop a single heat to the Toppers
• BU outscored WLU by 28.54 points overall
• Baylor continued to compete never before seen elements in the sport: Acro, Pyramid
• There were four freshmen to compete for BU: Alyiah Thomas (Tumbling), Gianna Cameron (Toss, Tumbling), Ellie LaNeve (Acro, Pyramid), Savanna Cecil (Tumbling) 

 
STAT OF THE MEET
Acro Heat 1 scored a perfect 10.0
 
QUOTABLE – Head Coach Felecia Mulkey
"I think (we got what we wanted out of the first meet). We shook some nerves out. We have lots of work to do. So, some really high highs. And I wouldn't say too low lows, but not really where we wanted to end. I think (the athletes) would agree with that."
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears hit the road and travel to Angola, Ind., to face Trine in the second meet of the season. Start time is set for 11 a.m. CT in the Thunder's MTI Center, the first time an A&T meet will be held there.
 
To stay up to date all year long on all things Baylor acrobatics & tumbling, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorAcroTumb.