No. 1 A&T Earns Athlete, Specialist Weekly Awards from NCATA
3/12/2025 3:00:00 PM | Acrobatics & Tumbling
Bears earn two accolades in week five of competition
WACO, Texas – Baylor Acrobatics & Tumbling has earned two weekly awards from the National Collegiate Acrobatics & Tumbling Association (NCATA), announced by the organization on Wednesday.Â
Â
Payton Washington earned Athlete of the Week, Jordan Gruendler was named Specialist and Leavy McDonald was named Honorable Mention Freshman after competing against Missouri State on March 8 in Springfield, Mo.
Â
This is Washington's third Athlete of the Week award and Gruendler's 10th for Specialist, fourth specifically for Acro.
Â
A top and tumbler from Round Rock, Texas, Washington competed in nine heats and team event in the fifth week of competition. All heats she competed in scored a 9.45 or above and competes at least one heat in each event through the meet. Most notably, she earned a perfect 10/10 on her Open Tumbling pass, the first Bear to do that since the 2020 season. In the Team Event, she competes two standing tumbling passes with a start value of 9.8 and two synched running tumbling passes with a 9.55 SV. She also competes a toss (9.9 SV) and in one synched acro sequence.Â
Â
The senior top from San Antonio topped the 5-Element and 7-Element Acro heats on the week, continuing to raise the bar by debuting new elements with her base, McDonald. In heat three, Gruendler competes a high stacked-hands handstand and then competes it on one-arm. After dismounting and returning to a handstand, she competed the "ring" while McDonald does a straight slide to split. They are the only athletes in the country to compete these skills. In heat one, she competes a high handstand to straddle.
Â
NEXT UP
The Bears return to the Ferrell Center for a three-meet homestand, beginning with Iona on March 22 at 5 p.m.
To stay up to date all year long on all things Baylor acrobatics & tumbling, follow the team on Facebook, X, TikTok and Instagram: @BaylorAcroTumb.
-Â BaylorBears.com -
Â
Â
Payton Washington earned Athlete of the Week, Jordan Gruendler was named Specialist and Leavy McDonald was named Honorable Mention Freshman after competing against Missouri State on March 8 in Springfield, Mo.
Â
This is Washington's third Athlete of the Week award and Gruendler's 10th for Specialist, fourth specifically for Acro.
Â
A top and tumbler from Round Rock, Texas, Washington competed in nine heats and team event in the fifth week of competition. All heats she competed in scored a 9.45 or above and competes at least one heat in each event through the meet. Most notably, she earned a perfect 10/10 on her Open Tumbling pass, the first Bear to do that since the 2020 season. In the Team Event, she competes two standing tumbling passes with a start value of 9.8 and two synched running tumbling passes with a 9.55 SV. She also competes a toss (9.9 SV) and in one synched acro sequence.Â
Â
The senior top from San Antonio topped the 5-Element and 7-Element Acro heats on the week, continuing to raise the bar by debuting new elements with her base, McDonald. In heat three, Gruendler competes a high stacked-hands handstand and then competes it on one-arm. After dismounting and returning to a handstand, she competed the "ring" while McDonald does a straight slide to split. They are the only athletes in the country to compete these skills. In heat one, she competes a high handstand to straddle.
Â
NEXT UP
The Bears return to the Ferrell Center for a three-meet homestand, beginning with Iona on March 22 at 5 p.m.
To stay up to date all year long on all things Baylor acrobatics & tumbling, follow the team on Facebook, X, TikTok and Instagram: @BaylorAcroTumb.
-Â BaylorBears.com -
Â
Players Mentioned
Top
/ Acrobatics & Tumbling
Base
/ Acrobatics & Tumbling
Top/Tumbler
/ Acrobatics & TumblingShe Has Superpowers 😳 #viral #shorts
Wednesday, May 06
Painting My Hair… Literally 🎨😳
Tuesday, May 05
You Gotta See The End 😂
Thursday, April 30
How is this even possible 😳 #viral #shorts
Tuesday, April 28
