Acrobatics and tumbling is a relatively new collegiate sport that combines elements from traditional Olympic style gymnastics with competitive cheer. The product is a team focused competition where squads perform skills in various events that award points based on their difficulty. Judges then deduct points from the base score for errors in execution. The team that ends a meet with the highest score after all six events is the winner. Individuals are invited to compete in selected events after the regular
season and playoffs, allowing them to earn individual accolades for themselves and their schools, but it is the team season that is the heart and soul of the sport.
Oregon has sponsored acrobatics and tumbling as a varsity sport since 2010. The Ducks are recognized by the NCATAas winning the organizations’ first four recognized national titles from 2011-2014. Since then the Baylor Bears have won every title, including the first event to be formally recognized as an NCAA championship in 2026. The Ducks have spent the last several years at the consensus #2 program in the country among, as of 2026, 14 Division 1 programs.
The team went 5-2 in the 2026 regular season with both losses being to Baylor in a home-and-home series. At the NCATA Championships the Ducks eliminated #7 Gannon in the opening round before falling in a close match to #3 Quinnipiac. It was frustrating for longtime fans of the program not to see them get a third shot at Baylor in the championship, but the season could hardly be considered a failure.
In the event finals the Ducks took home three titles: duo, trio, and aerial tumbling. Morgan Willingham took the solo event and was also part of the trio that came in first place.
In addition to the event finals, four Ducks were named All-Americans: Senior Blessyn McMorris, sophomore Carly Garcia, junior Ashlyn Parlett (all first team), and sophomore Angelica Martin (second team).
Three of these four All-Americans still have eligibility for 2027. Of the 41 members of the team listed on the 2026 roster, only 8 were listed as seniors for eligibility purposes. While many of these departing players were significant contributors in 2026 the team is well balanced with roughly equal numbers of rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors.
In the collegiate form this sport is still quite new and most of the Ducks on the team come from competitive cheer squads and/or gymnastics backgrounds in high school. As such there are no publicly available recruiting rankings in acrobatics and tumbling. That said, I see no reason to believe the athletes that a major program like Oregon has been attracting over the past few years shouldn’t be at the same level as their predecessors though.
As with many of the non-revenue sports I’ve been reviewing this month, there is little publicly available information regarding new recruits to the team. Only one official signing has been announced by the team as of this writing. We’ll need to check in again before competition resumes in January 2027 as to exactly who has been added to the roster to replace the departures.
Though some may consider it a niche sport, acrobatics and tumbling is one of Oregon’s most successful women’s athletic teams. Duck fans should look forward to another season of high expectations, and no doubt a few showdowns with arch-rival Baylor, in 2027.
