FAIRMONT, W. Va. – Azusa Pacific's acrobatics and tumbling season came to a conclusion Thursday in the quarterfinals of the NCATA national championships, as the sixth-seeded Cougars fell to third-seeded Gannon by a final score of 267.165-252.545.

How It Happened:  Much as in their regular-season meeting, the Golden Knights were dominant from start to finish, winning 19 out of 20 events.  The Cougars best score in the compulsory event was a 9.575 in the pyramid heat, but even there the Golden Knights were able to pull out a 9.625 and take a lead of nearly a point and a half.  The Cougars kept things close in the acro event, putting up a 9.550 in the 5-element heat, but still trailed by a little over two points going into the pyramid event, where a mishap in the synchronized heat allowed Gannon to more than double their lead at halftime.

Azusa Pacific put forth a solid effort in the toss event, but Gannon's higher start values on two of the three heats allowed them to continue to add to their lead, which by the end of the fourth event has swelled to more than seven points.  The Cougars' lone win of the day came in the open tumbling pass, where Sarah Lang put up a 9.775, which could be good enough to get her into the event finals at the end of the championships.  Gannon's five-point victory in the team event provided the final exclamation point on their march into Friday's semifinals.

This brings the Cougars' 2024 season to a close with a record of 3-4.  It also marks the conclusion of coach Kara Willard's four-year tenure in charge of the program.  She leaves with a career record of 17-11, having led the Cougars into at least the quarterfinals of the national championships in each of her four seasons, including a run all the way to a second-place finish in 2021.