Ducks Rack Up Awards On Final Night Of NCATA Championships

Ducks Rack Up Awards On Final Night Of NCATA Championships

04/28/18 | Acrobatics & Tumbling

ERIE, Pa. – The Oregon acrobatics and tumbling team capped off the NCATA National Championships, and the 2018 season, in spectacular fashion Saturday evening at the Hammermill Center, taking home six individual event titles and two All-America honors.

"The team came out and did what they had to do tonight," said head coach Keenyn Won. "Qualifying in 14 of 15 heats, we were excited to execute and bring home some hardware."

How it Happened: Heading into Saturday's event finals, the Ducks were forced to scramble with the recently injured Caroline Matos scheduled to participate in seven of the 14 heats. With little time to choose and prepare replacements, the gravity of the night weighed even heavier.

But seniors Taylor Galvin and Alexis Cross along with junior Tia Thomas put those nerves to rest almost immediately. The trio recorded a huge 9.925 in the five element acro heat to take home the very first event title of the night.

The Ducks earned their second championship in the synchronized pyramid heat with sophomore Payton Coon stepping in to replace Matos. UO edged out both Azusa Pacific and Baylor, who tied for second, by 0.05 points scoring a 9.875 to record Oregon's second all-time national title in that particular pyramid heat.

"Every single group that had changes stepped up to the plate and killed it," said Won. "This team is truly something special and I think we all saw that tonight."

After a slim 9.90-9.875 loss to Glenville State in the open pyramid heat, the Ducks opened the toss event with a bang winning their fourth consecutive 450 salto toss event title. Seniors Annelyse Robinson and Sabrina Peyton along with juniors Casi Jackson and Samantha Little and freshman Addie Lacewell combined for a 9.70 in the heat to beat out the remaining five teams.

Oregon continued to roll in the synchronized toss winning the event title after narrowly defeating Baylor 9.70-9.675.

The senior-laden squad of Cross, Galvin, Kendall Green and Kaylee Nicklos along with Thomas attempted to earn the event sweep for the Ducks in the open toss heat. UO and Baylor would end up tied after the first performance, forcing both teams to execute the heat once again. The Bears got the better of UO in the second attempt, 9.875-9.750, to win the heat title.

The Ducks then went into one of their most historically productive events, tumbling. Nearly half of UO's all-time individual event titles have come in the tumbling event.

But it did not look good for the Ducks at the onset as Baylor won the first four event titles by wide margins.

Senior Reagan Trussell righted the ship in the six-element tumbling heat, edging out King's Ashley Berlin, 9.875-9.850, to secure her first career individual event title.

Galvin looked to cap things off for the Ducks and close out her career at UO on a high note in the final heat of the night, the open tumbling pass.
And did she ever.

The Foothill Ranch, Calif., native stuck a perfect 10 in her pass to win her fourth consecutive individual tumbling event title.

One of UO's most prolific tumblers, the awards continued to roll in for Galvin following the individual events as she was named a 2018 NCATA All-American for the third straight year. Galvin joined Tara Lubert as the only Duck to earn three All-America honors at UO.

The Ducks were not done there either as Jackson was also named an NCATA All-American, her first career honor.

In total, the Ducks closed out the night with six event titles, tied for the most by any team, two All-Americans and one incredible season.

"This group of athletes has truly stolen my heart," said Won. "We have seen our ups and downs this season, but the adversity that this team has overcome is just a telltale sign of how strong these athletes are both mentally and physically. We've lost together and won together but this weekend was a win in my eyes. It's not about the trophy-it never was. This team did the unthinkable and I am beyond excited to see where we can go as a program. As cliché as this sounds, this year will forever hold a special place in my heart! Go Ducks!"