Three From Conference Carolinas Earn NCATA All-America Honors
WACO, Texas – Three Conference Carolinas student-athletes were named to the National Collegiate Acrobatics & Tumbling Association (NCATA) All-American Team.
Tanjae Lugo of Converse, Catherine Reynolds of King and Jessica Rubbo of Limestone all earned the prestigious honor. Lugo and Rubbo picked up the honor for the first time in their careers, while Reynolds is now a two-time All-American.
Lugo competed in an average of 12 heats per meet and was a key contributor to all six events. Standout scores for the year included a perfect 9.5/9.5 on her six-element pass, 9.9/10.0 in six-element acro and a 9.8/9.9 on her 450 salto toss. She is the third in Converse history to earn the honor.
Reynolds becomes the third Tornado individual to earn NCATA All-America honors. She was selected the inaugural Conference Carolinas Athlete of the Year this past season. Reynolds has helped the Tornado to program-high scores in five different events. In the tumbling open pass she set the school record and has broken it twice since with her best score being 9.925. In the Conference Carolinas Acrobatics & Tumbling Championship title meet, Reynolds posted the first perfect tumbling score in program history when she scored 10.00 in the open pass. She was also crowned a Conference Carolinas champion earlier that day in the event finals in the tumbling open pass.
Rubbo becomes the first Saint in program history to earn a position on the NCATA All-America team. Competing as both a base and a tumbler in a total of five events and 12 heats throughout the season, Rubbo played a major role in all four of Limestone's perfect 10s. A key component to Limestone's historic season, Rubbo helped the Saints set new records in the acro event (29.50), the pyramid event (29.85) and the team event (95.98), while ultimately boosting the Blue and Gold to a new meet-high in the final competition of the season (271.780). Demonstrating consistency across the board, Rubbo was involved in numerous of Limestone's top heats of the season as she helped lead the Saints to a pair of 9.95s in the synchronized and open pyramids, two 9.90s in the inversion pyramid and scores of 9.80 in the six-element acro and 9.80 and 9.75 in the seven-element acro, in addition to the scores of perfect 10s.
To learn more about the All-America team, please visit
HERE.
2021 NCATA All-America Team
Hannah Alonzo, Azusa Pacific (Base – Jr. – San Antonio, Texas)
Riley Chimwala, Baylor (Base – Fr. – Plano, Texas)
Payton Coon, Oregon (Top/Base/Tumbler – R-Sr. – Portland, Ore.)
Isabella Delacruz, Hawai’i Pacific (Base/Tumbler – Fr. – Wantagh, N.Y.)
Alyssa Hew, Oregon (Top/Base/Tumbler – Jr. – Markham, Ontario)
Kam Kitchens, Baylor (Top/Tumbler – So. – Kennesaw, Ga.)
Addie Lacewell, Oregon (Base – Sr. – Naperville, Ill.)
Tanjae Lugo, Converse (Top/Tumbler – Jr. – Elgin, Ill.)
Beth Magee, Azusa Pacific (Top – Sr. – Katy, Texas)
Nikki Pizzi, Gannon (Base/Tumbler – R-Sr. – Wallingford, Conn.)
Catherine Reynolds, King (Top/Base/Tumbler – Jr. – Fairfax, Va.)
Jessica Rubbo, Limestone (Base – Jr. – Lexington, S.C.)
Alexis Smith, Fairmont State (Top/Base/Tumbler – Sr. – Parkersburg, W.Va.)
Emily Tobin, Baylor (Top/Tumbler – So. – Templeton, Calif.)
Avery Tyson, Hawai’i Pacific (Top/Tumbler – So. – Georgetown, Texas)
Jacie Van de Zilver, Azusa Pacific (Top – Jr. – Jackson, N.J.)