AZUSA, Calif. – Azusa Pacific's acro team closed out its season in dramatic fashion, gutting out a 268.675-267.190 victory over fellow Original Five member Fairmont State Wednesday evening inside the Felix Event Center. With the victory, the Cougars maintained their hopes of ending the season in the top eight and qualifying for a 14th-consecutive trip to the national championships.
How It Happened: The two teams were evenly matched at the start, as the compulsory event ended in a tie at 37.05 apiece. A stumble by Fairmont State during the synchronized acro heat enabled the Cougars to come out of the second event with nearly a two-point lead, helped along by a strong 9.65 performance in the 7-element heat by the home side. Both teams were in excellent form during the pyramid event, with all six heats between the two sides scoring a 9.70 or higher, leaving Azusa Pacific with a lead of 94.2-92.5 heading into halftime.
The Falcons continued to close the gap in the toss event, though the Cougars did earn a season-high 9.80 on the open toss courtesy of the team of Martina Klecka, Erin Schmitt, Kendall Sullivan, Emily Scheneman, and Keelie Adsit. Senior Allee Kooch brought the tumbling event to a close with a bang, as her final pass across her home mat brought home a 9.80, keeping the Cougars in the lead by half a point heading into the team event. That team event saw the Cougars eke out a one-point win, 92.55-91.59, securing the victory.
Besides Kooch, the team honored fellow seniors Maria Hurst, Abbigale Abramson, and Gabby Hornung in a post-meet ceremony. The Cougars improved to 8-1 all-time against Fairmont State, though this was the first regular season meeting between the two sides since 2017.
Up Next: Azusa Pacific finished the regular season with a record of 3-3 and now will wait to find out if they are one of the eight schools selected to compete in this year's NCATA National Championships in South Dakota. The Cougars are one of only three programs to have qualified for the championships in every season of the sport's existence.
