Acrobatics and Tumbling makes Canisius history with first program win

Kaitlin O’Meara, Copy Editor

On Feb. 22, the Canisius University acrobatics and tumbling team hosted and won the program’s inaugural meet. Facing off against the Division III Buffalo State Bengals, the Griffs secured a 231.100 to 195.195 victory to open the season. 

Head Coach Mel Goulding is no stranger to building acrobatics and tumbling teams – she was an athlete on the inaugural team at Alderson Broaddus University and helped to build the program at Buffalo State as a member of the coaching staff. A 231.100 is a remarkable score for an inaugural season, let alone the first meet, and reflects the hours of hard work and dedication that the Griffs have put into making everything come together. 

Across the five heats of the meet, Canisius showed their cohesion as a team through a series of cleanly executed and difficult skills, which certainly contributed to the 35-point margin between the Bengals and the Griffs. Whether through the impeccable timing during the tumbling event or the various synchronized skills – pyramid, toss and the team event at the end, where they performed a routine combining all of the elements – the team showcased the work that has gone into building the program from the ground up over the past year. 

For many of the athletes, this was their first time competing at an acrobatics and tumbling meet, as most came from gymnastics and cheerleading backgrounds with the exception of a few transfers from established programs. Freshman Chloe Sanchez-Boo described winning this meet as “the very moment everything became real, and I finally understood that we are leaving a legacy here and a long-lasting impact for everyone to look back on.” Coming from a gymnastics background, Sanchez-Boo noted feeling a lot of nerves, but knew that she had teammates she could depend upon to “show up when we needed them the most.” This could be seen throughout the meet with the energy and passion shown by the athletes every time they took the mat. 

The acrobatics and tumbling team now heads to Wheeling, W.Va. to continue their season on March 1 against Wheeling, with the meet set to begin at 12 p.m. The team then travels to West Liberty to compete on March 4 with that meet set to begin at 5 p.m.

Photo courtesy of Lindy Feider