Augustana to host Oregon in first women’s acrobatics, tumbling meet

From one end of a tumbling mat to another, the athletes flip nearly in unison.

From the center of the mat, they form an impressive pyramid.

In between, there are stunts, tosses and a lot of teamwork.

For these two dozen women, it’s the chance to be athletic pioneers — the first Augustana University women’s acrobatic and tumbling team.

“I visited just for fun, and I didn’t really know what to expect,” said Natalie Homerding, a former gymnast from just outside Chicago.

“I ended up really falling in love with the school and the coach, and she had a really good philosophy for the program … so I decided to take the leap and commit, and I love it.”

The freshman biology major is part of a young but enthusiastic team brought together by coach Kaelyn Cowan, herself only six years post college graduation.

Cowan, also a former gymnast, was part of the national powerhouse Baylor University team that won back-to-back national titles in 2015-17.

“I decided I love this and want to coach, and the rest is history,” she said.

Post-graduation, she coached at multiple universities, including starting a program, before being recruited back to Baylor as an assistant coach. The opportunity at Augustana drew her attention despite being “a little cold” for a Texas native.

“But I came up here and met (athletic director) Josh (Morton) and (president) Stephanie (Herseth Sandlin), and it was so amazing. I fell in love with the administration and their idea of what they want Augustana athletics to be, and here we are today.”

She began recruiting athletes as soon as she took the role. There aren’t many Midwest universities offering the sport yet, so “we’re the closest to Colorado and even one of the closest to Illinois, so we had a lot of area to cover,” Cowan said. “Even in Oklahoma and Nebraska and Kansas, so I started going everywhere.”

And the athletes came from everywhere. Of the 24-person team, 19 women are freshmen. Two athletes already at Augustana also joined the team.

“We have one from Washington, all the way to Georgia and a Texan and one from California and Illinois,” Cowan said.

For most of the women, the sport has been entirely new. Nearly all have a gymnastics background, but the sport of acrobatics and tumbling offers a different mix of events. Like college gymnastics, a 10.0 is the best score, and start values vary.

“It’s a mix of many disciplines of gymnastics,” Cowan said. “You’ll see tumbling, but you’ll also see acrobatic gymnastics and holding people in the air and upside down.”

Meets begin with a compulsory round where all teams do the same skills. Then, there are acrobatic events, including forming pyramids and doing some skills in sync. There also are toss events, synchronized tumbling and individual tumbling passes.

“Coming from gymnastics, it’s all on you, and here it’s a lot about learning how to trust one another instead of focusing on yourself and working as a team,” Homerding said.

And the campus is rallying around this new team. An exhibition event filled bleachers at the Elemen Center.

“There’s no substitute to getting in front of fans and competing, and they were so supportive,” Cowan said. “I thought there would be 50 people, and they filled the whole stand, so I was really surprised and grateful.”

At 2 p.m. Saturday, Augustana will host the University of Oregon, one of the nation’s top programs. In acrobatics and tumbling, teams in divisions I, II and III often compete against one another. Augustana at this point is in Division II.

Oregon “is an amazing program. They’ve been around since the very beginning,” Cowan said, adding it will be a good example of the sport for Augustana fans.

“We are going to be a very, very good startup program,” she added. “I would say among the best.”

The sport culminates in a national championship, and while the goal always is to make it as a team, individuals also can qualify.

In the coming years, Augustana “absolutely” will be in contention, Cowan predicts.

One sign she could be right: Next year’s team already is projected to be 37 athletes.

“Everyone is just so supportive of each other,” Homerding said. “We’re always cheering for each other. Everyone is there to have fun and push each other so we can perform our best.”

Click here for information on tickets to Augustana’s meet versus Oregon.

Click here for a livestream of the event.