No. 1 A&T Earns Host of Accolades from NCATA

FAIRMONT, W.Va. – No. 1 Baylor acrobatics & tumbling earned a host of NCATA major awards, including a sweep of the major awards, announced on Sunday by the organization.

Riley Chimwala earned Athlete of the Year, Jordan Gruendler was named Specialist of the Year and Payton Washington is Freshman of the Year for the NCATA among Division I programs. This is Gruendler's second-straight season earning Specialist of the Year. Gannon swept the DII awards while UMHB swept for DIII.

Chimwala finished her senior regular-season slate having contributed 775.20 points for Baylor. With her on the mat, the Bears averaged a 19.47/20.00 points in the Acro event, 29.14/30 in pyramid and 18.98/19.80 in Toss.

Gruendler, a junior top, earned the Specialist award for her prowess in the Acro event, where she averaged a 9.87/10 in heat one and 9.69/10 in heat three. In the regular season, she had a high score of 9.95 against Long Island in the five-element heat and a high score of 9.95 in the seven-element against Oregon at home.

Washington, a top and tumbler, competed in a total of 60 heats as a freshman. She had a season-high 9.95 in heat 1 of acro at Long Island and a season-high of 9.95 in the synchronized pyramid at Iona. She competes as a top in both the 450 salto toss and the synchronized toss, averaging a 9.73 and 9.41, respectively. In the tumbling event she consistently competes in two heats, averaging a 9.929 with a high score of 9.975 in the six-element pass.

Chimwala, Gruendler, Washington and Bayley Humphrey were each named NCATA All-America. It was Humphrey's third time being named All-America, and Chimwala's fourth. A total of 62 student-athletes were nominated for the distinction from 21 institutions and only 16 individuals were selected.

Gruendler was also named to the NCATA All-Academic Team, consisting of just eight student-athletes from eight programs across the NCATA from 32 nominations. Each member of the 2024 All-Academic Team had at least a 3.70 cumulative grade-point average or higher. A junior, Gruendler holds a 3.97 cumulative GPA, studying Psychology with a minor in French.

In addition, the NCATA also announced its 2023 Academic Honor Roll, which includes all active Acrobatics & Tumbling student-athletes with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.30 or higher. The Bears had 30 student-athlete named to the Honor Roll, the second-most out of all teams by just three.

To stay up to date all year long on all things Baylor acrobatics & tumbling, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorAcroTumb.

- BaylorBears.com -

No. 1 A&T Earns Host of Accolades from NCATA

Players Mentioned

Riley Chimwala

Jordan Gruendler

Bayley Humphrey

Payton Washington

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