West Liberty, W. Va. - As the regular season comes down to its final two meets, the Wheeling University Acrobatics & Tumbling team (1-6, 1-6) made its way to West Liberty University for its second tri-meet of the season. For the second straight meet, the Cardinals hit the 200+ point mark, scoring 205.165 across the six events to finish third at the meet. It was another big day for the Pyramid group, with another program record secured, while Tumbling also starred on the day.
After putting together one of their best performances of the season in the Pyramid event last time out, the Cardinals once again attacked the event, scoring 25.90 points across the three heats of competition. Once again, the Cardinal's best event would come in the Open Pyramid, where they set a new program record for the third straight event. The Cardinals would put up a score of 9.05, earning an extra .05 points from their last meet against West Virginia State. They would also improve their scores in both the Inversion Pyramid and Synchronized Pyramid to round out the day. The event began with the Inversion Pyramid, where the Cardinals would set a new program record with a score of 8.65. The Synchornized Pyramid would be the lowest scoring heat of the event, but still finished with a solid score of 8.20.
The other top event of the day for the Cardinals was the Tumbling event, with the individual passes once again leading the way. Keala McCurry was up first in the Aerial Pass, and posted her best score of the season. She had a start value of 8.60 and would put up an 8.30 in the event to set a new program record. Giana Bjorn was up next in the six-element Tumbling pass, and she would end up tying her career-high with an 8.00. The final individual pass was the Open Pass, with Gabriella Jantz competing and putting up a 7.825 to round out the night. In the team passes, the Cardinals would put up their highest score in the Trio pass, with McCurry, Jantz, and Bjorn all competing. The trio would put up a score of 7.800, and helped the Cardinals score a 42.825 in the event.
The day began with the Compulsory event, with the Cardinals putting up their highest score in the Pyramid Heat, with a score of 8.85. The Cardinals would total 25.35 in the first four heats of the night, and they would look to bounce back in the Acro event. The Cardinals would break their third program record of the night in the Seven-Element Acro, scoring an 8.25 out of a 9.10 start value. They rounded out a 22.00 score in the Acro Heat before their strong Pyramid showing had them at 73.25 points through the first half. They registered five scores of 8.0 or better during the first half and would look to continue their success as they moved to the second half.
They opened the second half with the Toss heat and once again had strong showings across the three heats. They would start with a 7.30 in the 450 Salto heat and added a 7.75 in the Synchronized toss. However, as was the case throughout the night, the Cardinals put together their highest score in the final heat, the open Toss, finishing at an 8.30. After the strong showing in the Tumbling event, the Cardinals would round things out with the team event, returning to the event for the second straight meet. The Cardinals would score a 65.74 on a start value of 90.69, bringing their total to 205.165 to round out the day.
The Wheeling University Acrobatics & Tumbling team returns to action on Sunday, March 30th, when they host Bluefield State at 3 PM.
