Sioux Falls, S.D. – After a stellar inaugural season, the No. 13 Augustana acrobatics and tumbling team kicks off its second season in the Sunshine State Sunday. The Vikings will take on Saint Leo University in Saint Leo, Florida, at 3 p.m. (CST). This is the first time the Lions and Vikings have competed against each other. 
 
Complete action can be followed on GoAugie.com/Live and the GoAugie app, presented by The Original Pancake House. The app can be downloaded in the App Store or Google Play. 
 
"We are excited to get the season rolling," said second-year head coach Kaelyn Cowan. "The team is eager to show the improvements they've been working on since last season.
 
"Our upperclassmen feel a difference in their confidence level and overall understanding of the sport, and they are ready for that to be on display. You will also see some new faces from some freshmen who have worked incredibly hard to enter the gameday lineup. We are excited to travel to Florida and compete on Sunday to get this season underway."
 
About the Lions
Saint Leo averaged 246.986 points per competition a season ago, ending the year with a 4-2 record. The Lions are under new direction as Britteny Johnson, former coach of Coker University, was hired as the new head coach for Saint Leo.
 
Saint Leo's first year of competition was 2020 in an 0-4 year. After taking 2021 off, the Lions went 1-5 in 2022 and 4-2 last season.  
 
About the Vikings
Augustana finished its inaugural season 5-2, averaging 255.729 points per competition. The final record is among the best for a first-year program. Augustana claimed a pair of wins over Concordia University (Wis.), Caldwell, Trine and Adrian College while the two losses were to No. 4 Quinnipiac and No. 5 Oregon.
 
Augustana, who returns 22 competitors from last year's inaugural squad, welcomes 12 new faces to the roster. In the six events, Augustana averaged 35.336 points in the compulsory, 25.979 points in the acro, 27.614 points in the pyramid, 26.379 points in the toss, 51.660 points in the tumbling and 88.761 points in the team event. The season high in the team event came in the home dual with Concordia (Wis.) when the Vikings posted 93.39 points.
 
Last season the Vikings averaged 3.9 event wins and 12 heat wins per competition. The season-high score was 266.765 points in that aforementioned dual with Concordia (Wis.) while Au hit at least 251 points in every meet.
 
One Last Thing
For the first time in program history, the Vikings earned a national ranking when 107 points placed AU in the 13th slot. Amongst AU's 2024 competition, Baylor is ranked No. 1 and Mary-Hardin Baylor is ranked No. 11. The contest against No. 1 Baylor will take place in Sioux Falls on March 23.