Awards are given by NCATA and conference offices.
Athlete of the Week
Riley Chimwala – Baylor
Chimwala, a senior base from Plano, Texas, competed in 10 heats and team event for Baylor last week. She helped the Bears record nine scores of 9.50 or higher, including a perfect-10 in the open pyramid and a 9.95 in both the five-element acro and inversion pyramid heats.
Specialist of the Week
Jordan Gruendler – Baylor
Gruendler, a junior top from San Antonio, Texas, once again earned NCATA Specialist of the Week in the pyramid event. This week against LIU, Gruendler helped the Bears score a perfect-10 in the open pyramid and a 9.95 in the inversion pyramid.
Freshman of the Week
Alex DeAngelis – Gannon
DeAngelis, a back, base and tumbler from Audubon, N.J., competed in seven heats and team event for the Knights. Her performance was highlighted by seven scores of 9.50 or higher, including a 9.85 in the inversion pyramid and a 9.75 in the compulsory pyramid.
Athlete of the Week
Kacie Kier – Limestone
A sophomore base/tumbler from Elgin, South Carolina, Kacie Kier of Limestone competed in 10 heats in Limestone’s dominating performance against West Liberty. Nationally seventh-ranked Limestone posted its highest team score in program history in the 274.020-263.440 win over West Liberty
Kier competed in 10 heats in the win where she helped score a 9.5 or above in six heats. She competed in various positions throughout the meet as a base and tumbler. In the Compulsory event, she competed as a main base in Heat one, a front spot in Heat three and is an asset in Heat 4 as a tumbler. In the Acro Event, she completes seven skills that are a C or above (out of 11 skills competed). Kier is a main base in both Heat one and Heat two where she helped the team get the highest Acro event total of the season (28.8).
In Pyramid three, She is a mid level base of a 10.0 start value pyramid that scored a 9.9. Kacie front spots a 9.9 start value toss in heat one, scoring a 9.8. She front spots a 9.4 start value toss in heat two, which scored a 9.1. In tumbling, Kacie competed in the Aerial heat where she scored a 9.975 out of 10.0. In the team event, Kier competes at various positions to help raise the start value of the event. She front bases two tosses, completes a 10.0 start value standing tumbling pass, main bases two Acro sequences, mid levels a 10.0 start value pyramid and completes a 9.5 running tumbling pass. During the competition, Kacie competed in at least four different positions through the heats: main base, front base, tumbler and mid level.
Specialist of the Week
Bridget Sweeney – King
A sophomore top/tumbler from Royersford, Pennsylvania, Bridget Sweeney of King competed in the synchronized pyramid heat as the top where she scored a 9.9/10.0 with a 270 twist to a straddle on a bridge with a 360 twist dismount.
Sweeney also competed in the open pyramid heat as a top where she also scored a 9.9/10.0 with a 270 twist up to a pike hold on a bridge with a 360 front flip dismount. Both of the scores as well as the pyramid event scores were season-highs for the Tornado. The synchronized pyramid score was within 0.05 of the school record.
Athlete of the Week
Abbie Baker – Frostburg State
Baker, a senior from Berlin, Md., competed in 13 heats and team event as the Bobcats defeated Hawaii Pacific last week. She helped Frostburg record 11 scores of 9.50 or higher, including a 9.90 in compulsory toss, a 9.85 in open pyramid, and a 9.75 in open tumbling.
