WORK IS NEVER DONE

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Before the start of every season, Baylor acrobatics & tumbling coach Felecia Mulkey meets with her student-athletes and gives them the same message: "This team hasn't won anything yet."

That may sound funny for a program that's won the last nine NCATA national championships and hasn't lost a meet in four years – a streak of 47-consecutive meets dating back to a loss to Oregon on March 6, 2021.

"This program has won nine championships, but this team hasn't won a championship yet," said Mulkey, whose top-seeded Bears (9-0) will face eighth-seeded Limestone University (12-1) in the NCATA quarterfinals at 4:30 p.m. CT Thursday at Augusta University's Elmen Center.

"We've had a really great season, an undefeated season, but the work is not done. And we know we have to show up and be intentional, be on point, and be on our 'A' game every single day that we go there. It's never been easy to win, but it's getting harder and harder to win. Which makes it way more fun. So, we're excited. This is going to be an exciting championship."

Senior base Morgan Brown, already part of three NCATA national championship teams, said this week is "the pinnacle of everything that we've been working towards."

"It's really exciting to get to the point where we've turned the corner with this team," Brown said, "and are just looking forward to bringing home another championship."

For Mulkey, who has won all 13 NCATA national championships – the first four coming at Oregon – this has been a memorable year for a lot of reasons. She picked up her 100^th victory at Baylor, and the Bears had a program-record five 10.0 scores in the win over Oregon in the regular-season finale.

"But I wouldn't say it's memorable because of all those numbers," Mulkey said. "The wins are fun. It's been memorable because we got this new facility (the move to the Ferrell Center). And we just had a really great four years of great leadership from the (senior) class that's here."

The most memorable thing about the year, though, was Baylor's win over Oregon in the regular-season finale three weeks ago, Mulkey said. Not only did the Bears record five perfect 10.0 scores, BU broke the NCATA and school record with an attendance of 2,351.

"It was not that we won, it was the atmosphere of the Oregon meet," she said. "I don't think anybody can touch what Baylor did at that Oregon meet. Those are the moments that are memorable for me. if you talk about our team, they don't talk about those five perfect 10s, they talk about the band walking in, they talk about the fight song being played. They talk about just the synergy that was in the room."

Junior base Meredith Wells said it "was truly something very unique to any other meet that I've ever competed in."

"The band was awesome," Wells said. "We were all supposed to be warming up, but we were cheering for the band. We were really excited to have all of them there. And to beat the attendance record, that was really cool. I had a lot of family there, so that was awesome."

While the atmosphere won't likely match Baylor's, Mulkey said the Sioux Falls community "is very supportive of their school and of their acro team."

"The arena is a little bit smaller than the Ferrell Center, but they draw a really good crowd, even for a regular season meet," she said. "I know they will do it up right for the championship. . . . One thing I've noticed is that it grows the fan base in that region when you host it on a campus, even at Baylor, and our community is pretty engaged at Baylor."

Thursday's other quarterfinals begin with third-seeded Quinnipiac (7-1) facing sixth-seeded Iona (3-3) at 10:30 a.m., followed by second-seeded Oregon (5-2) vs. No. 7 Mary Hardin-Baylor (4-3) at 1:30 p.m. and No. 4 Augustana (6-0) vs. No. 5 Fairmont State (8-1) at 7 p.m. Augustana and Iona are making their first appearances in the NCATA national championship, while UMHB made history last year as the first Division III team to qualify.

"I think we're going to see that a lot over the next few years," Mulkey said. "Even in the top 15, you're seeing all of these new names. There's just a wealth of young coaches that are hungry and excited, and there are some great universities out there that are willing to support the sport. For so long, it's been the same eight teams in the championship. . . . To see these new schools come in and kind of overtake that it's pretty cool."

Friday's semifinals are scheduled for 4:30 and 7 p.m., with Saturday's national championship slated for 7 p.m. All matches will be streamed on ESPN+.

WORK IS NEVER DONE

Players Mentioned

Morgan Brown

Meredith Wells

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