SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – For the final time of its inaugural season, the Augustana acrobatics & tumbling team competes in Sioux Falls as it welcomes Concordia Wisconsin to the Elmen Center on Friday. The meet begins at 6 p.m.
 
If you're not able to be in Sioux Falls for the event, a free live stream will be available at GoAugie.com/Live.
 
The Falcons
Concordia Wisconsin is 2-3 on the season, having gone 1-2 since facing Augustana on Feb. 19. The Falcons traveled to Trine on March 11, falling 243.070-236.245. On March 14 as part of a tri-meet, the Falcons topped Adrian 237.530-224.085 and fell to Mary Hardin-Baylor, 267.530-237.530.
 
In their last time out, the Falcons recorded a season-high 24.35 points in the acro event while the five-element heat was a big part of that with a high score of 7.50.
 
The Vikings
Augustana is coming off its second victory of the season with a rout of Caldwell, 256.565-127.825. The Vikings swept all six events and recorded a season-high score in the acro with 27.5 points. In addition, a season-high of 28.8 was recorded in the pyramid with another season-high of 53.025 points in the tumbling event.
 
The rematch with the Falcons gives Augustana an opportunity to move over .500 in its inaugural season as it sits 2-2 on the year. The first-ever victory for the program was a 261.805-239.940 win at Concordia Wisconsin.
 
Following the home finale, the Vikings travel to Angola, Indiana, to face host Trine and Adrian College in a tri-meet on April 1.
 
About Acrobatics & Tumbling
An NCATA meet is a team competition consisting of six events. The first event is compulsories, followed by three heats within the acro event, followed by the pyramid event and then halftime. After halftime, there will be the toss event, the tumbling event, and the team event. A running score will be kept throughout the meet. The team with the most cumulative points at the end of all six events is the winner of the meet.
 
The Compulsory event consists of four heats; an acro heat, a pyramid heat, a toss heat and a tumbling heat. The skills for the compulsory event represent the basic skills of the sport of acrobatics and tumbling. In this event, each team will execute the same skills for direct comparison. Each heat begins with a starting value of 10. The officials will be looking for execution, body positions and stability of structures.
 
The acro event marks the beginning of the optional portion of the meet. Each team will compete with skills previously chosen with different possible start values. There will be between two and four athletes on the floor in each of the three heats. Heat one has five elements, heat two has six elements and heat three has seven elements. The start value is determined by the difficulty and combination of each skill. In addition, each position must be held for three seconds. This event demonstrates power, strength and balance.
 
The Pyramid event is the final event in the 1st half. In the Pyramid event, athletes will build three layers in a structure. The start value of each heat is determined by the difficulty and the combination of the entry, structure and dismount. The Pyramid Event has three different heats with different requirements for each heat. Heat one must have an inversion. Heat Two must be synchronized and Heat Three is an open heat. Two key things the officials will be looking for are the position of the top and the stability of the structure.
 
The first event of the second half is the Toss Event. Here you will see four athletes toss a teammate into the air. The teammate tossed in the air, known as a top, will execute a flip or twist before being caught. There are three heats in this event. The synchronized toss features two toss groups. These groups should look exactly alike and be in sync. The start value of the toss depends on skills that the top executes in the air. Officials will be looking for height, the top's body position and tight catches by the bases.
 
The fifth event of the meet is the Tumbling Event. This event has six heats. The first three are synchronized group tumbling passes; a duo, trio and quad tumbling pass. The last three are individual tumbling passes. The start value of each heat are determined by the difficulty and combination of skills in each pass. Officials will be looking for body position, continuity of skills and technique in each skill.
 
The final event of the day will be the team event. It encompasses everything you just watched in the first five events. The team event features up to 24 athletes on the floor at one time performing skills in Acro, Toss, Pyramid and Tumbling in a routine set to music. Key items for officials to evaluate include synchronization of skills, stability of the structures, body position and technique of the tumbling. This is a very fast-paced event so be sure to keep your eyes on the mat.