No. 5 Vikings sweep Concordia Wisconsin in dominant home opener

The No. 5-ranked Augustana Acrobatics and Tumbling team set two program records and won all six events in a 267.585–219.720 victory over Concordia Wisconsin in its home opener on Feb. 28. 

The Vikings improved to 3-0 on the season, 8-3 all-time at home and posted the fifth-highest team score in program history with 90.260 in the team event. Augustana led 95.250–79.350 at halftime and maintained the lead through the final three events.

“I think they did a really good job,” head coach Kaelyn Dillon said. “We had a ton of improvement really all the way around.”

Augustana opened the meet with a 37.300 in the compulsory event, outscoring Concordia Wisconsin’s 29.900. The Vikings followed with a 28.300 in the acro event, highlighted by a 9.800 in the seven-element heat.

“I think the biggest improvement was the pyramid event,” Dillon said. “We scored 29.65, and that’s a program record by three-tenths, which is pretty big.”

The Vikings scored 9.900 in both the inversion and open heats and added a 9.850 in the synchronized heat for the pyramid event.

Augustana continued its lead in the toss event with a 28.05, including a 9.700 in the open heat.

In tumbling, the Vikings posted a 54.025, marking the first time the program has scored at least 54 points in the event. Senior top/tumbler McKenna Trowbridge recorded a 9.825 in the solo aerial pass followed by senior Paige Simon, a base, top and tumbler, scoring a 9.800 in the six-element pass. 

Simon said adjustments to her tumbling pass allowed for increased difficulty across the lineup.

“I took out a skill, and it makes it a little bit harder,” Simon said. “But since I can do that, we can have other higher start values in the other open passes.”

Senior base and tumbler Sanaa Newberry contributed in both the acro event and tumbling event where she debuted a new tumbling pass in her first home meet with Augustana after transferring from Limestone University in South Carolina.

“It felt really good,” Newberry said. “I’ve been feeling more at home with this school, so it’s really exciting to compete with people that I enjoy being with.”

Simon, who has been with the program since its inaugural season, also competed in multiple events. She said the team improved from its season-opening tri-meet two weeks earlier.

“We’ve gotten a lot better in some areas, and we still have a lot of improvement that we can make,” Simon said. 

The Vikings closed the meet with a 90.260 in the team event. The team event score remained above 90 points for the third consecutive meet.

“The only thing that we did a little bit better last meet was in the team event,” Dillon said. “But anytime you’re scoring above a 90 in the team event, you’re hitting something great.”

Simon pointed to the team event as an area of emphasis in practice.

“We probably do it more than any other team in the whole country,” Simon said. “I feel really confident about it.”

Augustana entered this season ranked fifth after beginning last season ranked 11 and finishing fourth at nationals. The coach said the team has responded well to increased expectations.

“It’s the first year you have a little pressure on you and people kind of know where you stand,” Dillon said. “They’ve handled it really, really well.”

The Vikings’ 267.585 total marked their highest score to open a home season and one of their top overall scores. Augustana improved its scores in five of six events compared to its first meet.

Augustana will travel to Texas over spring break to take on Mary Hardin-Baylor on March 8 and Texas Lutheran on March 10. The team will return to the Elmen on March 18 to take on Iona.