By Judaea Ingram, Kaitlyn Grady and Sam Vetto
Quinnipiac acrobatics and tumbling opened its season at home Feb. 2 against Morgan State. There are 13 Division I acrobatic and tumbling programs, 30 Division II programs and 11 Division III programs that all compete against each other to make it to the national championship. The regular season only consists of eight matches so each one carries a lot of high stakes. Only eight teams make the acrobatic and tumbling championships.
The meets
A meet consists of six smaller events, with various point values totaling 300 points. The general meet will last about two hours, consisting of a jam-packed schedule. Each event has 3-4 heats, or sets of athletes set to complete various feats, such as flips, tosses and other acrobatic techniques. For each heat, the opposing team takes the mat first as the home team watches, then answers.
This two-hour event consists of acro or stunting, pyramids, tosses, tumbling and the final team event set to music. The judges score right after the sequence is done, grading on all aspects of the sequence. After each event the teams are updated with their points
Quinnipiac is returning 20 athletes from last season, where it went 7-1 and entered the NCATA Tournament as the No. 2 seed. Quinnipiac lost to No. 3 Gannon by less than two points in the semi-finals of the national championship. The team is coming off its best season, when the Bobcats clinched their first unbeaten regular season in program history. They have brought in 12 freshmen this season. Last year they had nine freshmen.
They have added two former Bobcats to the coaching staff. 2024 NCATA All-American Tiffany Zieba and Chloe White joined as assistant coaches.
Things to note
The Bobcats tend to start off strong in their meets, sweeping their opponents in the compulsory, where their best heats are the pyramid and the toss. They also do well in the open pyramid. They were open pyramid champions in the 2024 NCATA championship.
Morgan State is in its second year competing, as it went 2-4 last year and are looking to improve. With a sharp focus on improving technical precision and routine difficulty, the Bears are prepared to take their performance to the next level. They have added 13 new athletes to the roster since last year.
The Bobcats have been a dominant force in the sport for years as they made their seventh-consecutive appearance in the NCATA Final Four and were No. 2 in the organization’s preseason rankings. Quinnipiac is coached by the experienced and highly-respected Mary Ann Powers who enters her 28th season as the head coach of the program.
The results
The Quinnipiac squad had its first meet of the season Sunday against the HBCU Morgan State. The more-experienced Quinnipiac swept the meet, winning each of the events by margins of eight points at the largest.
Despite its first year competing, Morgan State was able to keep the meet close, staying in fighting distance until the very end, keeping the gap close until the team event at the end. No. 2 Quinnipiac looks to take on No. 8 Iona College on Feb. 15, entering the opposing gym looking to start the year 2-0.