Sioux Falls, S.D. – Following a season that ended with a national ranking, the No. 11 Augustana acrobatics and tumbling team looks to continue momentum into year three as they travel to Springfield, Missouri to take on first-year program Missouri State.The teams will tumble at 3 p.m., on Saturday. 
 
"We are excited to get the season underway," said third-year head coach Kaelyn Cowan. "We are honored to be part of Missouri's States first home meet. We have worked hard in the off season to increase difficulty and cleanliness. We can't wait to step on the mat with team 3 and kick off a great season!"
 
About the Bears
Missouri State will compete in its second ever competition on Saturday and first ever at home. In a tri-meet hosted by Presbyterian, the Bears scored 130.325 points and started 0-2. Saturday will be the first time they compete in the team event. MSU is under the direction of Kimberlee Adkins, formerly an assistant coach at Chowan University.
 
About the Vikings
Augustana finished its second season 6-2, averaging 261.341 points per competition, an improvement from 5-2 and 255.729 points per competition in year one. Augustana earned two wins over Concordia University, Wisconsin while also knocking off Texas Lutheran, East Texas Baptist University, East Stroudsburg and Saint Leo. Both losses came to ranked opponents a season ago, falling to No. 1 Baylor and No. 11 Mary Hardin-Baylor.
 
Augustana, who returns 32 competitors from last year's inaugural squad, welcomes 10 new faces to the roster. In the seven events, Augustana averaged 36.221 points in the compulsory, 27.429 points in the acro, 28.707 points in the pyramid, 27.029 points in the toss, 54.286 points in the tumbling and 90.025 points in the team event. The season high in the team event came in the home dual with Baylor when the Vikings posted 97.53 points.
 
Last season the Vikings averaged 4.5 event wins per competition. The season-high score was 269.355 points in that aforementioned dual with Baylor while AU hit at least 252 points in every meet.
 
One Last Thing
The Vikings earned its highest ever preseason ranking when they were selected No. 11 in the initial national poll. Among AU's 2024 competition, Gannon is ranked No. 3, Azusa Pacific is ranked No. 7 and Hawaii Pacific ranks 12th.