By Bradley Melchor, Staff Writer

  Fresh off their 2024 NCATA DIII Championship, the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Acrobatics & Tumbling team hosted the No. 1 ranked Baylor Bears on Saturday, Feb. 8, in the Mayborn Campus Center for their first meet of the 2025 season.

The two teams opened the meet with four ‘Compulsory’ events. The Cru recorded a score of 9.30 in the Acro Heat, 9.55 in the Pyramid Heat, 9.70 in the Toss Heat, and 7.80 in the Tumbling Heat, totaling 36.35 points out of a possible 40.00. Baylor, in comparison, scored 9.35, 9.70, 9.85, and 8.65, respectively, for a total of 37.55 points.

Following the compulsory events, the teams moved on to the Acro event, where each performed five-element, six-element, and seven-element routines. The Cru earned scores of 9.20, 8.85, and 9.65, respectively, for a combined score of 27.70 out of a possible 30.00. Baylor earned 8.55, 9.35, and 9.90 in the respective routines, totaling 27.80 points.

The Cru then closed out the first half of the meet with another strong performance in the Pyramid events, scoring 9.10 in the Inversion Heat, 9.50 in the Synchronized Heat, and 9.95 in the Open Heat. With a total of 28.55 out of 30.00, the Cru finished the first half with a cumulative score of 92.60. Baylor scored 9.80, 9.60, and 9.90 in the Pyramid events, bringing their halftime total to 94.70.

After the 15-minute halftime break, the meet resumed with both teams performing in the 450 Salto, Synchronized, and Alto toss routines in the Toss event. The Cru earned 26.70 points out of a possible 28.80, while Baylor posted a score of 28.50.

In the penultimate event, the Cru delivered a solid performance in the Tumbling event, completing the Duo pass, Trio pass, Quad pass, Aerial pass, Six-element pass, and Open pass. The Cru earned 49.175 points out of a possible 53.70. Baylor, however, delivered an even stronger performance, scoring 55.15 points out of a possible 59.75.

To conclude the meet, both teams participated in the final Team Event. The Cru earned a score of 86.86 out of 100.00, bringing their total score for the meet to 255.335 out of a possible 282.500. Baylor would win the event with a score of 97.89 out of a possible 109.24, ultimately clinching the victory with a total score of 276.240.

While the Crusaders could not start their season off with a win over their nationally ranked opponents, they will have a chance to get into the win column when they travel to Seguin on Mar. 3 to take on Texas Lutheran University in their next meet.