After spending two seasons as an assistant coach at Oregon and the 2016 season as a volunteer assistant at Baylor, former Oregon All-American Kelsey Rowell is in her 10th season as an assistant coach of the Baylor acrobatics and tumbling team in 2025-26.
In her nine seasons as an assistant coach, Rowell has helped the program win its 10th-straight NCATA title (eight under her tenure) in 2025.
The 2025 season saw the Bears go 12-0 and extended the undefeated meet streak to 50 to end the season. Baylor had 10 meet wins by over 10 points, and three meet scores of 280 or more. BU swept the DI end of season awards with Jordan Gruendler earning her third-consecutive Specialist of the Year title, Payton Washington being named Most Outstanding Athlete of the Year, and Leavy McDonald taking the Freshman crown. Those three along with Emily Bott were named NCATA All-America and Gruendler also was named to the All-Academic Team. The trio of Washington, McDonald and Gruendler swept the weekly awards three times this season as well. The Championships, taking place in Sioux Falls, S.D., saw BU defeat Limestone, Augustana and Oregon to earn the title before winning a school-record nine individual event titles. The Bears earned 12 perfect 10s on the season, including a record five 10s in one meet, coming against Oregon on Senior Day (4/5).Â
Baylor’s ninth-straight NCATA Championship title came in the 2024 season. Rowell and company led four student-athletes to All-American status (Riley Chimwala, Jordan Gruendler, Bayley Humphrey, Payton Washington) as well as the three who swept the DI end-of-season awards (Washington - Freshman, Chimwala - Most Outstanding, Gruendler - Specialist). Another undefeated season under her belt, the Bears used the 11-0 record to keep their 38-meet winning streak. BU was the only team to score a 280 or higher in a meet, and had nine weekly awards earned from the NCATA, one of which was a sweep. The Bears faced three new teams including Augustana, Iona, LIU and Texas Lutheran. Baylor recorded one perfect 10 score on the season, in the Open Pyramid against LIU (3/5). The Bears defeated Fairmont State (host), Oregon and Gannon en route to the title. Baylor earned seven individual event titles, one in each event - Five-Element Acro, Six-Element Acro, Seven-Element Acro, Inversion Pyramid, 450 Salto Toss, Six-Element Tumbling, Open Tumbling.
BU had another perfect 11-0 season in 2023, winning the championship and had a record five home meets in the Ferrell Center. Kamryn Kitchens earned four Athlete of the Week accolades en route to being named Most Outstanding Athlete of the Year, while Baylor captured six Specialist of the Week awards from the NCATA by Riley Chimwala, Jordan Gruendler and Bayley Humphrey; Gruendler being named Specialist of the Year. In addition, Gianna Cameron had one Freshman of the Week award and three honorable mention awards on her way to being named Freshman of the Year. Kitchens was also named to the All-Academic Team while 25 made the NCATA Honor Roll. Chimwala, Humphrey, Kitchens and Emily Tobin were all named NCATA All-America as well. In addition, Tobin and Grayson Moore earned the Big 12 Dr. Gerald Lage Academic Achievement Award. Mulkey’s 80th Baylor win came against Oregon on April 1 and the Bears recorded 11 perfect 10.0 scores on the season, the most coming in the Pyramid event. BU won five individual event titles in the Six-Element Acro, Seven-Element Acro, Synchronized Pyramid, 450 Salto Toss and the Open Tumbling Pass with Kitchens.
The 2022 season saw three individual national titles for the Bears and the seventh-straight NCATA National Championship. Rowell also saw BU gain two yearly NCATA awards, with Emily Tobin being named Most Outstanding Athlete of the Year and Bayley Humphrey being named Specialist of the Year. The Bears had three named NCATA All-Americans in Tobin, Humphrey and Riley Chimwala. Baylor got it done on the mats and in the classroom, with Kamryn Kitchens named All-Academic and 26 other student-athletes named to the NCATA Academic Honor Roll. Six newcomers were named to the 2022 Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team for Baylor, and 27 student-athletes were named to the Academic All-Big 12 At-Large Team.Â
For the fourth-consecutive time, a Baylor student-athlete was named the NCATA Most Outstanding Athlete in 2021 as Emily Tobin earned the honor, while Riley Chimwala was named the NCATA Freshman of the Year. Tobin, Chimwala and Kam Kitchens all earned All-America honors, while Maddie McNamee was named the Louise Goodrum Academic Award winner.
Baylor won another nine individual event titles in 2019, as she has coached three NCATA All-Americans, including the NCATA Most Outstanding Athlete, Ashley Echelberger and the Specialist of the Year Joie Hensley.
The Bears won six NCATA individual event titles in 2018 and she coached three NCATA All-Americans, including the Most Outstanding Athlete (Ceara Gray) and Specialist of the Year Kaylee Adams.
In her first season as assistant coach, Rowell played a large role in guiding Baylor to its third straight NCATA national title and five NCATA individual event titles. She also helped coach three NCATA All-Americans.
Rowell, in her role as a volunteer assistant with the Bears, helped lead Baylor to the 2016 NCATA national championship, the program’s second straight crown.
Rowell, a member of the Oregon acrobatics and tumbling team from 2009-2012 while coach Mulkey was the Ducks’ coach, helped lead Oregon to the 2011 and 2012 NCATA National Championships. She earned several individual tumbling event national titles and was honored as an NCATA All-American as a senior.
Rowell (rhymes with towel), an Oregon native, has 12 years of all-around experience in gymnastics, competing nationally in Oregon, California and Texas before joining the Oregon squad 2009. Prior to competing collegiately, she was a 2001 Level IX Western National Qualifier and a Level 10 National Qualifier in 2002 and 2003. She garnered regional championship titles on floor, beam and vault.
After graduating from Oregon in 2012 with a degree in sociology and prior to entering the coaching ranks, Rowell worked at Vircon Inc., in Portland, Ore., as a consultant relations manager in the human resources department.