Normally, the sidelines of an acrobatics and tumbling meet are brash and loud. As No. 1 Baylor (10-0) defeated No. 4 Oregon (4-4) in the NCATA Championship semifinal on Friday night, though, only one sideline was celebrating. The Bears swept nearly every heat on their way to a berth in the final, dropping only one and securing a nearly eight-point victory, while the Ducks’ season came to a disappointing at the hands of their rival.
“I think that [rivalry] manifests itself in a very positive way,” Oregon head coach Taylor Susnara said. “A lot of the time, I feel like we challenge each other to do better, and that’s something that’s really positive and unique between our two schools.”
Baylor head coach Felecia Mulkey corroborated: “I love Taylor,” she said, “I think that she’s doing a fantastic job at Oregon [and] we always love to go against them.”
Baylor held the edge throughout the first half — the Bears’ dominant acro event featured base Bayley Humphrey and top Jordan Gruendler’s ‘boomerang’ move that reportedly goes even above the reported 10.0 start value. Meanwhile, Oregon’s pyramid event, which has been its first-half strength against the Bears, saw the Ducks outdone as their opponents swept every heat and event in the first half.
“I think that the biggest thing is just focusing on what we can control,” Susnara said after the meet. “The officials are going to score what they’re going to score. We can’t worry about what the opponents are going to be doing.”
It wasn’t so much Oregon’s fault as it was Baylor’s seeming inability to make any mistakes. The Bears registered only one first-half score under 9.60 (excepting the compulsory tumbling event, where teams rarely score over 9.00) on their way to a 2.75 point halftime lead.
“The main thing that we’re looking at is just keeping our energy really high, having fun and keeping composure throughout the meet,” Susnara said on the halftime broadcast. “My goal is that we execute a little bit sharper [and] a little bit tighter these next few events.”
That wouldn’t happen.
After the half, Oregon struggled out of the gate as its 450 Salto toss found a fault in the athletes’ catch. Baylor took full advantage — freshman top Payton Washington sprung into the air, and the Bears posted a 28.975 mark to outdo the Ducks by nearly two full points. Oregon’s synchronized toss had similar issues, and the Bears’ lead would only grow.
The freshman tumblers were the stars of the tumbling event; A group of Bears athletes including Washington and Emily Bott couldn’t keep the sweep going, but won all but one heat — while Oregon still managed as high as an 9.750 in the six-element tumbling heat but couldn’t find salvation. Once again, as always seems to happen when these two teams meet, the Ducks entered the team event needing a huge performance.
There seemed to be scarcely a blemish on Oregon’s team offering, but the Ducks posted a 84.020 out of a possible 107.86, and the Ducks’ prior mistakes proved too much to overcome, as the Bears posted an adequate 85.580 despite a fall from Washington to secure their place in the championship final.
“It was a really good meet today,” Susnara said, “[but] little things here and there cost us. I was really, really proud of our program today — I think they showed up with great energy. We didn’t come out with a win today and we’re bummed about that, but all in all, I feel satisfied and really proud.”
The loss marks the end of Oregon’s 2024 season. Baylor moves on to face No. 3 Gannon in the final tomorrow night, while the Ducks will recoup and recharge as the sport of acrobatics and tumbling continues to grow.
