No. 1 Baylor A&T Soars at No. 4 Oregon

Sat Feb 22 21:27:52 CST 2025

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – Feb. 22, 2025
No. 1 Baylor A&T Soars at No. 4 Oregon
Bears earn 280-point final score
For more information contact: Madelon Allen; 254-252-7168, madelon_allen at baylor.edu<mailto:madelon_allen at baylor.edu>

EUGENE, Ore. – The No. 1-ranked Baylor acrobatics & tumbling team came up big against No. 4 Oregon in a closely-matched meet, 283.630 to 272.780.

The Bears (3-0) defeated the Ducks (1-1) by 10.85 points to start the season, increasing the meet win streak to 41 in a row. To start the meet, BU had 0.55 points up on UO in start value.

To start off the meet in Compulsory, BU and UO all executed the prescribed skills. In the Acro heat, Baylor scored a 9.75 and Oregon followed with a 9.65. The Bears and Ducks tied the Pyramid heat at 9.90 each and then tied the Toss heat at 9.95. In the Tumbling heat, BU scored a 9.3, the Ducks scoring 9.25. Through one event, the score was 38.90 to Oregon’s 38.75, BU leading by 0.15 points.

Kicking off the optional portion of the meet, BU started the competition in the Acro event with their 5 Element heat, featuring Jordan Gruendler as well as Emily Bott as the tops and Leavy McDonald as the base, scoring a 9.90/10. The Ducks followed with a 9.75/10 score in their heat. In the synchronized 6 Element heat, with four different pairs of tops and bases, the Bears scored 9.70, followed by 9.30 from UO. In the third heat, Gruendler and McDonald scored a 9.95 after competing a handstand to reverse planche (arch) while McDonald slides to splits and rotates to straddle. Oregon followed it up with a score of 9.60 in its heat. For the Acro event, BU scored a 29.55 to UO’s 28.75, now totaling 68.45 to 67.50 through two events and Baylor leading by 0.95 points.

In the Pyramid event, BU started it off with a 9.90 score in the Inversion heat with Gruendler and McDonald competing a one-handed handstand. Topping the Synchronized heat were Gruendler and freshman Makayla Vasquez, based by McDonald and Meredith Wells, respectively. They scored a 9.70 after competing a high press straddle, while the Ducks produced a score of 9.30. In the Open heat, Gruendler once again topped McDonald and competed the reverse planche, scoring a 9.95. Oregon came away with a perfect 10 in their Open heat to finish the event, but Baylor came out on top for the event with a 29.55 score to UO’s 29.05.

At the half, BU was up 98.00 to Oregon’s 96.55, leading by 1.45 points.

Starting the second half in the Toss event, it was Payton Washington topping the 450 Salto heat, finishing with a score of 9.75, followed by an 9.45 from Oregon. In the Synchronized heat, Washington and Gabby Kaminski were the tops, scoring 9.40 with their back salto layout 720 tosses, which the Ducks followed with a score of 9.25. In the final heat, the Open heat, Kaminski was the top, scoring a 9.45 with a kick back salto layout 720, which UO scored a 9.30 against. At the end of the Toss event, Baylor totaled 28.60 while Oregon had a 28.00. Through four events, BU had a score of 126.600 while UO had a 124.550, the Bears up by 1.45 points.

In the Tumbling event, starting in the Duo for the Bears were Aliyah Thomas and Gigi Rendino who scored a 9.45 on their pass, a roundoff whip arabian tuck roundoff back handspring back layout 540, followed by a score of 9.75 from Oregon. In the Trio were Bott, Gianna Cameron and Dailyn Hopkins competing a roundoff double-whip double-back handspring back layout 540, earning a score of 9.0 which the Ducks put a 9.55 up against. In the Quad pass were Washington, Aliyah Kaloostian, freshman Sarah Kerr and Kaminski, scoring a 9.30 for their front tuck roundoff back handspring back layout 540, roundoff back layout 360 pass, while Oregon put up a score of 8.85. For the Aerial pass it was Kerr, who scored a 9.775 after competing a front handspring front tuck roundoff back handspring back layout 540 roundoff back layout 360 pass, while UO earned a 9.675 score. Competing in the 6 Element heat was Bott competing a roundoff whip back layout 540 roundoff back handspring back layout 360 pass, earning a 9.75 score; Oregon earning a score of 9.85. Washington earned a 9.625 for the Open heat, competing a front tuck roundoff back handspring back layout 540 roundoff back layout 360 with the Ducks’ 9.775. By .550, the Ducks won the Tumbling event, 57.45 to 56.90 from Baylor. Headed into the Team event, BU was up 183.500 to 182.000, leading by a score of 1.5 points.

In Team event, Baylor competed first and scored a 100.130 with a 109.180 start value. The Ducks came next, scoring a 90.78 with a 108.380 SV.

The meet finalized, BU won with a final score of 283.630 against UO’s 272.780; the Bears winning by 10.85 points.

HIGHLIGHTS
• The Bears have won 41-meets in a row.
• Head coach Felecia Mulkey now has a Baylor win record of 98.
• BU and UO tied in two heats, and Oregon won five heats.
• Baylor won all events but Tumbling.
• The Bears improve to have a 26-13 record over Oregon.
• The last time BU had a 100-point team event was 3/23/24 against Augustana (101.55/108.36).
• The Augustana meet was also the last time Baylor had a 280 final score (281.600).

NEXT UP
The Bears return home to host Azusa Pacific on March 1 with a start time of 5 p.m. at the Ferrell Center.

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

__________________________________

Madelon Allen | Associate Director of Athletics Communications
A&T, EQ, VB, BaylorBears.com
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 254-252-7168

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