By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Considering top-ranked Baylor acrobatics & tumbling "kept their eyes on the prize" on a trip to Honolulu, Hawaii, three weeks ago, the Bears should certainly be able to focus for three days in West Liberty, W. Va.
            Gunning for their eighth-consecutive NCATA national championship, the No. 1-seeded Bears (8-0) will face eighth-seeded Fairmont State (9-2) in the quarterfinals at 3:30 p.m. CT Thursday at the Academic, Sports and Recreation Center on the West Liberty University campus.
            "Historically, I have disliked the trip to Hawaii," Baylor coach Fee Mulkey said. "This team probably increased the program's chance of going back to Hawaii. They did fantastic. They're such a good group and kept their eyes on the prize. They had fun when they needed to, but really regulated it. Then, they did a great job out there. We scored really well."
            Scoring its season high, Baylor defeated Hawaii Pacific by almost 17 ½ points, winning every heat in dominating the Sharks, 287.775 to 270.310.
            "I feel like it was really great for our team," said junior All-American base Riley Chimwala. "We got to bond a lot . . . and it was definitely a challenge, but I think it just made us stronger."
            Baylor takes a 24-meet winning streak into the NCATA National Championship, dating back to a narrow loss at Oregon on March 6, 2021. The Bears have also won 20-straight at nationals, defeating Gannon in last year's final in Eugene, Ore.
            On the opening day, third-seeded Azusa Pacific (4-3) faces No. 6 Limestone (11-0) at 9:30 a.m., followed by No. 2 Oregon versus No. 7 Frostburg State (10-2) at 12:30 p.m., with fifth-seeded Gannon (9-2) closing it out with a matchup against No. 4 Quinnipiac (6-4) at 6 p.m.
            "We're going to continuing seeing what we can do and what new things we can bring to the game," Mulkey said. "It's a lot of fun to see, No. 1, these teams doing so much better in their execution and also having so much fun out there.
            "I'm not one of those who says, 'I hope everyone has their best day.' I'm not at a basketball game hoping the other team hits all their shots. But it is fun to watch other teams enjoy it and execute. It is a lot of fun, and then leave it up to the judges. This year has been a blast in that regard."
            The Bears have recorded eight perfect 10.0 scores this season, including six in the Pyramid event, garnering four in the inversion pyramid heat. And they are the only team that has hit the 280-point mark this season, doing it five times in eight meets.
            Although Baylor is drawing comparisons to powerhouses like the New York Yankees in baseball or New England Patriots in football, Chimwala said "it's hard for us to see because we don't really see ourselves that way."
            "I think we see ourselves as being on a level playing field with everyone," said Chimwala, who was named an All-American along with Kamryn Kitchens, Emily Tobin and Bayley Humphrey. "There have been certain teams where they want to take pictures and stuff like that. And it's been awesome, because I feel like we love to be surrounded by people who love the sport as much as we do. And that's the most important thing."
            On top of the four All-America awards, Baylor also swept the major awards, with Kitchens named Athlete of the Year, sophomore top Jordan Gruendler Specialist of the Year and Giana Cameron the Freshman of the Year.
            Even through eight meets, Mulkey has continued to tweak and fine-tune every little detail and looked for ways to improve every heat.
            "People keep stepping up," she said. "Our toss event, still fine-tuning that. Ally Joswick competed in one of the group tumbling passes in Hawaii, and she'll make it in there for the national championship. So, cleaning up team events and just new skills. Kristen McCain added two standing tumbling passes to team event, which upped our score significantly. Still on the upper trajectory and hoping to peak at the right time."
            Mulkey, who has won all 11 NCATA national championships (the first four at Oregon), said she doesn't "feel any pressure" to win her eighth-straight at Baylor.
            "We don't really focus on it, which sounds really weird," she said. "We just focus on one percent better every day and enjoying the ride. Had we focused on the championship every year, maybe it wouldn't have come out the right way. But if we didn't get the championship, we would have been disappointed. The way we work it is we focus on each other, we have a blast and the championship is icing on the cake.
            "Our goal at the end of the year is to look back and say, 'I would do it all over again.' That's our goal, and I think we're there right now."
            Baylor's quarterfinal against Fairmont State will be streamed by ESPN+.


WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – Top-seeded Baylor Acrobatics & Tumbling is prepped for the quarterfinals of the NCATA Championships, facing eighth-seeded Fairmont State on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. CT in the ASRC on West Liberty's campus. 
 
The Bears (8-0) head into the first round of the championships having faced the Falcons (9-2) 11 times previously. BU leads the all-time series 9-2 and faced FSU last in 2018. 
 
The two programs shared common opponents this season in Presbyterian, Frostburg State and West Liberty. 
 
Baylor is coming into the postseason as the only team in the NCATA to hit the 280-point final score mark, and reaching it five times this season. Last time out, BU defeated Hawai'i Pacific in Honolulu, 287.775-270.310, with the highest final score of the season.
 
Ahead of the championships, the Bears swept the NCATA major athletic honors, including Kamryn Kitchens as Most Outstanding Athlete of the Year, Jordan Gruendler as Specialist of the Year and Gianna Cameron as Freshman of the Year. The major awards follow the announcement of Kitchens, Riley Chimwala, Bayley Humphrey and Emily Tobin being named NCATA All-America, Kitchens named All-Academic and 25 being named to the Academic Honor Roll on Monday.
 
The quarterfinal meet against Fairmont State will be streamed on ESPN+ and live results can be found here. A full recap and final results from the meet can be found at BaylorBears.com/acro following the conclusion of the meet. 

Tickets for the Championships are on sale here and the official bracket can be found here. The NCATA Championships central can be found here. 
 
With a win against Fairmont State, the Bears will face the winner of the meet between No. 4 seed Quinnipiac and No. 5 seed Gannon, with the meet set for 6 p.m. CT on Friday.
 
To stay up to date all year long on all things Baylor acrobatics & tumbling, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorAcroTumb.