BELMONT, N.C. — The Belmont Abbey acrobatics & tumbling team won its second home meet of the season and its second straight dual meet thanks to a 229.940-227.570 victory over Lander Friday evening at the Wheeler Center.

The Crusaders and Bearcats were locked in a close battle throughout the meet but the Abbey earned a win thanks to a 5.19-point advantage in the team event.

With Friday's results, Belmont Abbey improves to 4-1 overall and in Conference Carolinas competition. Lander is now 1-1 overall and 1-1 in the league.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Event 1 — Compulsory
Belmont Abbey took an early 33.75-32.65 lead thanks to three scores of 8.15 or better. The best score for the Crusaders came in Compulsory Pyramid, scoring a 9.45/10. The Abbey also had scored of 8.75 and 8.15 in Toss and Acro, respectively.

Event 2 — Acro
The Crusaders extended their lead slightly thanks to a 24.95-24.30 advantage. Belmont Abbey's best score in the event came in 7 Element Acro, with a score of 9.15/10. Competing in the Crusaders in the event were Gracie Grady, Erena Chaples, Mackenzie Linegar and Katilyn Blakeney.

Belmont Abbey earned scores of 7.7/10 in 5-Element (Heat 1) and 8.1/9.6 in 6-Element Acro.

Event 3 — Pyramid
The Crusaders put together one of its strongest events of the meet with all three scored above a 9.0 or higher. The best score came in the Open Pyramid with a 9.5/10. Reese Johnson, Molly Froman, Grady, Anna Audet, Audra Kaiser and Payton Lanier.

Belmont Abbey also had scores of 9.0/9.7 in the Inversion Pyramid and 9.0/10 in the Synchronized Pyramid.

The Abbey had a narrow 27.5-27.25 advantage in the event and a two-point lead at halftime.

Event 4 — Toss
Lander took the lead as the Bearcats had a 24.9-22.85 lead over the Crusaders. Belmont Abbey's best score came in the Open Toss, scoring an 8.6/9.6 in the event. Froman, Audet, Johnson, Blakeney, Alyssa Westbrook and Gabrielle Cox competed in Heat 3 for the Abbey.

Event 5 — Tumbling
The Crusaders scored a total of 45.65 points in the Tumbling Event. The Crusaders scored 7.15 or higher in all three of the team passes, including a 7.35/8.0 in the Quad Pass.

Deanna Woolard, Chaples, Kaiser and Lanier competed for the Abbey. The highest point total came in the Duo Pass of 7.45/8.6 from Sarah Brady and Madison Quinlan.

In the individual passes, Tia Fluellen put together a strong 8.75/9.55 in the Open Pass while Woolard added an 8.275/9.55 in the 6 Element Pass.

Event 6 — Team Event
Belmont Abbey rallied and earned the win thanks to a 75.24/98.1 in the team event. Lander finished with a 70.07 out of a 98.67-point start value.

UP NEXT

• Belmont Abbey is off next weekend but returns to competition on Tuesday, March 11th.
• The meet is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start in Bristol, Tennessee.