Awards are given by NCATA and conference offices.
Athlete of the Week
Payton Washington – Baylor
Washington, a sophomore top and tumbler from Round Rock, Texas, had scores of 8.65 and above across the meet, with all but one scoring a 9.55 or higher. Washington’s meet was highlighted by a 9.95 score in her compulsory toss event, tying her season high.
Specialist of the Week
Abby Katz – Presbyterian
Katz, a senior top from Columbia, S.C., contributed to the pyramid event by helping score program-high scores in all three heats. Katz contributed with scores of 9.7 or higher, including a 9.7/10 in inversion, a 9.9/10 in synchronized, and a perfect 10/10 in open pyramid.
Freshman of the Week
Leavy McDonald – Baylor
McDonald, a redshirt-freshman base from San Antonio, Texas, competed in seven events including the team, earning scores of 9.8 or higher in each one. McDonald tied her season-high of a 9.95/10 in heat three of the Pyramid event.
Athlete of the Week
Kaylin Francavilla – Coker
Francavilla competed in 10 heats across all six events in Coker’s upset win against Lander. The senior contributed to six scores above 9.4 including three season-high scores in the five element acro, inversion pyramid, and quad tumbling heats. Her night was highlighted by a 9.40/9.70 in the inversion pyramid heat, a 9.50/10.00 in duo pyramid, and a 9.65/10.00 in the open pyramid to help the Cobras win the pyramid event. She also helped post high scores of 9.45/10.00 in five element acro, a 9.45/10.00 in compulsory pyramid, and a 9.40/10.00 in compulsory toss with a win in the compulsory event. Francavilla also played a huge role in the team event competing in the running tumbling section, both toss sections, both pyramid sections, and both acro sections.
Specialist of the Week
Janai Brown – Limestone
Brown competed in all three pyramid heats against Converse where she assisted in an overall pyramid event score of 28.95/29.80 accumulating less than one point in deductions across all three heats. Her highlights in the pyramid event include scoring a 9.70/10.00 in duo pyramid, 9.80/10.00 open pyramid, and a 9.45/9.80 in the inversion pyramid.
Athlete of the Week
Kayla Gandy – West Liberty
A senior top from Washington, Pa., Gandy contributed to multiple season high scores for the Hilltoppers as the Black and Gold split a tri-meet with Kutztown (Pa.) and Wheeling. Competing as a top and tumbler in the maximum number of events allowed, Gandy helped lead WLU to season-high tallies in compulsory acro, compulsory pyramid, sync pyramid, and aerial tumbling. Her 9.725 aerial pass was a program record. This is Gandy’s second weekly honor of the season, having been selected as the March 3 Specialist of the Week.
Specialist of the Week
Payten Semenske – Glenville State
Semenske, a senior base from Statesville, N.C., helped the Pioneers dominate the Pyramid Event in Thursday’s impressive 250.865-207.040 win at West Virginia State. Competing as a mid on all three Pyramid heats, Semenske led Glenville State to a total of 29.25 points (possible 30.00) in the event. The back-to-back scores of 9.85 in the inversion and open Pyramid heats tied for the highest heat scores of the match. This is also Semenske’s second weekly honor of the season, having been chosen as the Feb. 10 Specialist of the Week.
