By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
 
FAIRMONT, W. Va. – Felecia Mulkey joked that Baylor's mistakes in the team event in Friday's semifinal at the NCATA National Championship were "basically . . . on purpose," just so the top-seeded Bears can peak in Saturday's final.
 
Even with a fall in one of the pyramids and a couple other slip-ups in the closing team event, the Baylor acrobatics & tumbling team (10-0) comfortably defeated fourth-seeded Oregon, 268.355-260.470, for its 36^th-consecutive meet victory and will face third-seeded Gannon (8-2) in Saturday's 4 p.m. CT final at Joe Retton Arena.
 
"We started out really strong and did not end the way we wanted to," said Mulkey, whose team is seeking its ninth-straight NCATA national championship after beating Oregon (4-4) for the third time this season.
 
"Even though it was a W, our team didn't feel like it was a win. We've got some things to prove. That puts us in a good mindset for coming in tomorrow, because we did not put an exclamation point on the meet as we had planned to. We did some things better today, which we're super proud of and we're going to celebrate those. But we're going to get after it tomorrow and put an exclamation point on it for you guys."
 
Leading from start to finish, the Bears won 18 of the 19 heats and already had a commanding lead of 6.325 points going into the team meet. In toss, which has been one of its weakest events, Baylor posted three scores of 9.50 or higher that included a 9.825 in heat 1 (450 Salto).
 
"We left some room for improvement in toss, in our world," Mulkey said. "Our (synchronized) toss wasn't as good as we wanted to. I am still overall impressed with them because we are not a great toss team. But we decided this week that we're going to be a toss team."
 
In arguably its strongest event, Baylor was nearly flawless in tumbling. And the fact that the Bears used five freshman tumblers is an indication that "the future is bright," Mulkey said. Freshmen Savanna Cecil (9.875), Emily Bott (9.725) and Payton Washington (9.850) recorded impressive sores in the aerial, 6 element and open pass, respectively.
 
Oregon's lone heat win of the night came in the 6-element pass, where junior Rachel Furlong edged Bott by just 0.025 points, 9.750-9.725.
 
"I think it's always fun going against a team that challenges us and makes us rise up to our competitors," Baylor senior Brennah Cotner said. "I think tomorrow is going to be a lot of fun. We definitely left room for improvement. I think tomorrow's going to be great, a lot of energy, and our guard is up."
 
Mulkey said the Bears "rely heavily on our freshman class" in the tumbling event, "and they're doing a wonderful job."
 
"You can't really ask much more of them," Mulkey said. "We're going to ask for a little more synchronization from them and a little bit more controlled landings from them."
 
As for the pyramid that fell during the team event, Mulkey promised that it won't happen again in Saturday's final against Gannon.
 
"They talk about keeping their guards up," she said. "I don't know what else is going to happen in team event tomorrow, but I can tell you right now, that pyramid won't come down . . . ever, again. Everything happens for a reason to set us up in the right place. And our goal will be to peak tomorrow and get back to the team that we know we are."
 
In a dramatic finish in the other semifinal, Gannon never led until the final score. The Golden Knights outscored second-seeded Quinnipiac by almost three points in the team event and edged the Bobcats, 266.616-265.315, to avenge a loss three weeks ago.
 
Gannon lost to Baylor in a relatively close NCATA final in 2022 and gave Baylor its biggest challenge of the year in falling by just over three points (278.715-275.555) last month in Waco.
 
"I've been saying all year that Gannon has been good," Mulkey said. "Gannon is dangerous, they are good, they've been good. . . . So, I'm excited to go against Gannon. (Coach) Brandy Duren is a former Duck, one of my former athletes (at Oregon). And she's doing a great job."
 
Duren was an assistant coach at Gannon when the Golden Knights lost to Baylor in the 2022 national championship and took over the reins as head coach before the start of last season.
 
Saturday's championship meet will be streamed on ESPN+.



FAIRMONT, W.Va. – No. 1 Baylor acrobatics & tumbling downed No. 4 Oregon on Friday night at Joe Retton Arena, 267.955 to 260.470, in the Semifinals of the 2024 NCATA National Championship.
 
The Bears (10-0) beat the Ducks (4-4) by 7.525 points for the win. This was the third meeting of the season between the two teams, having competed in Waco on February 25 and in Eugene on April 5, Baylor winning all three. The all-time series is now 25-13 in Baylor's favor with a 5-1 record in neutral territory. Across the three meets, Baylor has a total margin of victory of 22.945 points against the Ducks.
 
BU increased its winning streak to 37 meets, dating back to March 27, 2021. 
 
THE RUNDOWN
Starting off the meet, Baylor had a Compulsory score of 38.125. A score of 9.65 was garnered in Acro, 9.775 in Pyramid, 9.80 in Toss and an 8.90 in Tumbling. Headed into the second event, BU was up 0.85 points to Oregon's 37.275 score. 
 
Moving into the optional portion of the meet, Baylor had a score of 9.875 in Heat 1 (5-Element), 9.550 in Heat 2 (6-Element) and 9.850 in Heat 3 (7-Element) of Acro to total 29.275 for the event. The Ducks had scores of 9.625, 9.075and 9.575 respectively, for a total of 28.275. Going into the Pyramid event, BU was up 67.40 to Oregon's 65.55. 
 
In the Pyramid event, the Bears earned a 9.975 in Heat 1, the inversion heat. In heat two, BU earned a 9.65, the synchronized heat. In heat three, the open heat, the Bears scored 9.825. With the event scoring a 29.45, the running total was updated to 96.85 for Baylor. Oregon totaled 28.55 for the event and had a score of 94.10 going into halftime, the Bears up by 2.75 points.
 
In the Toss Event, Baylor had scores of 9.825, 9.500 and 9.650, respectively, to total 28.975 for the event. The Ducksscored an 8.875, 8.750 and 9.575, respectively, to total 27.200. Going into the fifth event, Tumbling, the Bears were up 125.825 to UO's 121.300.
 
In the Tumbling Event, Heat 1 (Duo) with Emily Bott (FR) and Kristen McCain (SR) scored a 9.275. In the Trio Heat (Heat 2), Payton Washington (FR), Aliyah Kaloostian (JR) and Alyiah Thomas (SO) scored an 9.275, compared to Oregon's 8.75. The Quad Pass (Heat 3) had Ally Joswick (SR), Gabby Kaminski (FR), Rakel Jeffries (JR) and Dailyn Hopkins (FR) score an 8.95. The Aerial pass from Savanna Cecil (FR) earned a 9.875, Bott in the 6 Element pass (Heat 5) had a 9.725 score, and Washington in the Open pass (Heat 6) earned a 9.85 while UO had a 9.725. The Bears' total came to 56.95 for the event, while the Ducks scored a 55.15. Going into the night's final event, BU was up 182.775 to 176.450from Oregon. Baylor entered the team event up by 6.325 points on UO.
 
In the Team event, Baylor earned a score of 85.220 while the Ducks earned a 84.020, bringing the meet score to a total 267.955 to 260.470, BU taking the win. 
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Baylor extends its win streak to 37 meets in a row, dating back to 2021.
• BU outscored Oregon by 7.525 points.
• The Bears earned 17 scores of 9.0 or higher. 
• Baylor dropped only one heat to the Ducks.
• Meet was highlighted by 9.975 score in Pyramid Heat 1.

 
NEXT UP
The Bears face No. 3 Gannon at 4:00 p.m. CT for the title and will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
To stay up to date all year long on all things Baylor acrobatics & tumbling, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorAcroTumb.