SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The Augustana acrobatics & tumbling team has found its next head coach. Assistant coach Sophia Gardner has been elevated and selected to lead the program as the second head coach in program history.

"I'm excited and grateful for the opportunity to be the next head coach of the Augustana Acrobatics and Tumbling team," said Gardner. "I'm looking forward to building on everything Coach Dillon accomplished over the past four years. As I step into this role, I am thankful for all the support from Kaelyn, Vice President for Athletics Josh Morton and Luke Groth throughout the process. I feel extremely privileged to work with such an incredible group of athletes. Together, we will continue to strengthen South Dakota as an acrobatics and tumbling state."

Hired as a graduate assistant in 2022, Gardner has been with the program for all four seasons and was elevated to assistant coach after earning her master's degree from Augustana in 2024. In her time with the Vikings, the team has a 24-7 record over the course of four seasons of competition, including appearances in the NCATA National Championships each of the last two seasons.

"We are thrilled to elevate Coach Gardner to head coach," said Morton. "She has been a crucial part of the success of our program since she came to Sioux Falls and it became clear she is the right person to take over leadership of the program."

With Gardner serving as an assistant in 2026, Augustana scored a program-best 270.205 in their final regular season meet and reached the NCATA National Championships for the second time. Four event records were broken as the bar for Compulsory (38.350), Acro (28.750), Pyramid (29.700) and Tumbling (54.025) records were all reset. As a team, she helped mentor a two-time All-American in McKenna Trowbridge, All-Americans in Paige Simon and Elaina Matuszewski and two-time NCATA All-Academic honoree Natalie Homerding.

Gardner, from Waco, Texas, graduated from Azusa Pacific in 2022 before receiving her master's in Sports Administration and Leadership from Augustana in 2025. 

While at Azusa Pacific, Gardner competed as a back/base and tumbler for the Azusa Pacific acrobatics and tumbling team for four years. She earned a bachelor's degree in psychology with a minor in communication studies in 2022 and received her master's from AU in Sports Administration and Leadership.