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here for an interview with Head Coach
Courtney Pate
BELTON, Texas – The newest program in the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Athletic Department will make its debut this weekend as the Cru Acrobatics and Tumbling team hosts its inaugural meet on Saturday. UMHB will welcome five-time defending National Champion Baylor University to the Mayborn Campus Center for a 5 pm start.
The Cru is led by Head Coach
Courtney Pate and has just one student-athlete with collegiate acrobatics and tumbling experience. UMHB started practices in the fall and Pate has seen tremendous growth in the team and excitement leading into the first meet.
"It is long-awaited and we are so excited and are really looking forward to hosting Baylor," Pate said. "Coming in, our athletes were really learning the sport from the ground up. All of the acro structures, tosses and pyramid structures they had to learn from the ground up and they are really seeing their and are working hard to keep developing and growing."
Pate is a graduate of Baylor and won a National Championship with the Bears Acrobatics and Tumbling program. Baylor is ranked #1 in the country in by the National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association (NCATA) and has won the last five NCATA National titles. The meet is also the season opener across the country and represented a unique opportunity for a first-year program like the Cru.
"I have a lot of personal relationships with Baylor and the coaching staff and that's where I established my love of the sport," Pate said. "We are excited to open with such an established program and it will definitely provide our athletes with experience as to what we are looking for as we continue to progress as a program."
Acrobatics and Tumbling meets are divided into six events. The meet will open with the compulsory event, featuring each team competing to complete required skills in four different heats. The Acro event follows with three heats comprised of five, six and seven elements. The Pyramid event features both teams competing in three heats of pyramid building with each heat incorporating a different element. After a 15-minute halftime, the Toss event features three heats, two with solo tosses and one with a synchronized toss. The Tumbling event features three team and three individual heats of synchronized and individual tumbling passes. The Team event will close out the meet with a choreographed routine that features up to 24 student-athletes on the floor at the same time.
Saturday's meet opens a schedule that will feature two more home events for the Cru. Admission to Saturday's meet is free and live streaming will also be available through the UMHB Athletic Department website at
www.cruathletics.com.
