SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) -In just its third year in program history, Augustana University’s Acrobatics and Tumbling team has climbed to new heights going 6-0 during the regular season.It’s something head coach Kaelyn Dillon didn’t anticipate happening so soon when she started recruiting for the program in 2021.
“At the end of last year into this year I knew this team was something different. And I would say not surprised after this season seeing where they’ve started and where they finish. They’re hungry, they’re gritty, and they’re super competitive,” Dillon said.
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She says part of this season’s success is the team’s wealth of experience.
“I think the biggest thing that stood out is that we had 100% returners this season. We did not have anyone graduate. Kay Greene graduated last year, but she saved for her fifth year. So we had 100% return plus another class of eight. So that was big,” Dillon said.
With only 55 colleges in the country offering the sport, many of the women had never competed before joining.
“It’s emerging and it’s an amazing opportunity for women across the country. The sports realm, it’s kind of small when you get to the college level so this adds 50 plus spots per school that has this awesome sport, and gives more opportunity to women to continue to do what they love as they get into college,” Dillon said.
The majority of the women on the team have a background in gymnastics, including junior Paige Simon.
“I would say it’s like cheerleading, but also the floor part of gymnastics combined,” Simon said. “So it’s really learning a whole new sport for us in a big sense.”
Simon was on the program’s very first team, and says they’ve made a lot of progress.
“We are able to focus on smaller things instead of just making sure that we have anything to go out there to compete. So it’s really fun,” Simon said.
Senior Alana Machac transferred to Augie for this program specifically and was also there for the team’s inaugural season.
“It became something that I always kind of wanted to be part of. Especially from my old team, and immediately it was like a family cohesive thing. We treated everyone like we were related,” Machac said.
Machac was one of the few women who had an acro background when the team of 24 started.Now the program has grown to 42 strong.
“How fast everybody learned was insane,” Machac said.
Currently Augie ranks as the top Division II school in the sport, but Machac says the sky’s the limit for the future of the program.
“We have so much talent on this team and the fact that we each year we just keep on building and building. It’s just it’s going to go even higher from here and I’m really excited,” Machac said.
Augie is hosting this year’s NCATA National Championship, welcoming Division I schools like Baylor and the University of Oregon.
But regardless of the competition, Augie hopes to elevate its way to a national championship title.
“In the end, I don’t care Division I, II or III we want to be the best. So we want to go out and win a national championship,” Dillon said.
“Just to show people that we can score big and we can win against other really good teams,” Simon said.
The first day of competition starts on April 24 at the Elmen Center in Sioux Falls.
Currently, Augie is ranked No. 4 in the country.
