SIOUX FALLS, SD — The fourth-ranked Iona University Acrobatics & Tumbling concluded its spring break trip out west on Wednesday night with a 271.685-268.225 victory over fifth-ranked Augustana University. The Gaels held a .50 halftime edge and pulled away from the Vikings with a stellar second half to post a program-record team score at the Elmen Center.
It is the second straight season that the Maroon & Gold have earned a road win over the fifth ranked team in the country. In 2025, the No. 8 Gaels defeated No. 5 Mary Hardin-Baylor, 265.005 to 264.875.
FROM THE HEAD COACH
"I'm really proud of this group. They competed focused and relaxed, which is exactly how we wanted to respond after the tough loss at Oregon. I couldn't be prouder of them!" Said head coach Jacquie Eshleman. "We saw so many season highs today, and most notably
Ty Upton and her toss group in the Duo and Open Toss. In the Open Toss, Ty debuted her newly created toss - the Toss Arabian Pike Split 540. It is the first ever toss to be created in the sport and she executed it beautifully! We also had standout performances from
Portia Dryden,
Paige Delman and her partner
Annabella Cicci, and All-American transfer
Cameron King."
COMPULSORY EVENT
The Vikings took a narrow 38.10-37.40 opening event win. Both sides started with a score of 9.4 in the acro heat. The Gaels then posted season-highs in the compulsory pyramid with a 9.9 and the compulsory toss with a 9.75. Augustana took the final tumbling heat 8.35 to 9.0.
ACRO EVENT
Iona responded with a 29.40-28.40 event win in the acro event, a season-high score in the event. The Gaels posted season best scores of 9.85 in the five-element, 9.8 in the six-element and 9.75 in the seven-element.
PYRAMID EVENT
Augustana countered in the final event of the first half scoring 29.60 out of a possible 30.00 while Iona scored 29.35 out of 30.00. The Gaels posted scores of 9.8, 9.8 and 9.75 and the Vikings countered with 9.9, 9.8, 9.9. That brought Iona's first half lead to 96.15 to 96.10.
TOSS EVENT
Iona bounced back out of the intermission with a season-best score of 29.00 in the toss event with Augustana totaling 28.15. The Gaels opened with a season-high 9.8 in the 450 salto toss. Upton closed out the event with a season best 9.75 in the open toss.
TUMBLING EVENT
The Gaels closed out with a season-high 55.925 in the tumbling event as the Vikings totaled 53.525. Iona opened with the duo pass group of Dryden and Upton who registered a season best 9.7. The trio group of freshman
Haley Nalty, sophomore Mylah Van Elsen and junior
Olivia Montalbano recorded a season-high 8.7.
Iona's quad pass team in senior
Julienne Templeman, sophomores
Riley Beauchmin and
Kendall Vess along with rookie
Vicki Zhou posted a season-best 8.35. Montalbano then registered a season-high 9.7 in the aerial pass. Upton followed with a 9.675 in the six-element before Dryden capped the event with a 9.8.
TEAM EVENT
Iona capped the meet with a season-high 90.610 out of a possible 106.36 in the team event to seal the road win. Augustana recorded 90.450 out of a possible 103.65 for the event.
OVERALL
Iona with several season best performances eclipsed a program record 271.685 in its first road win of the season. The Gaels previous program best was 266.045 earlier this month against No. 1 Baylor.
UP NEXT
The Gaels return home for a short break before traveling to Quinnipiac on Saturday, March 28 for the regular season finale at 1 p.m. from M&T Bank Arena.
THE LINEUP
#0 Breanna Shivarain
#2
Mylah Vanden Elsen
#3
Annabella Cicci
#4 Keria Ewing
#6
Teresa Jennings
#7
Vicki Zhou
#8
Rachelle Ricafranca
#9
Olivia Montalbano
#12
Ty Upton
#13
Josie Hewett
#15
Violet Strong
#19
Cameron King
#20
Riley Beauchmin
#21
Julienne Templeman
#24
Kendall Vess
#25
Emersen Johnson
#27
Leilani Morales
#30
Karryn Wieda
#31
Portia Dryden
#32
Mya Brayak
#33
Cristiana Abreu
#34
Madison Lutte
#35
Haley Merrill
#36
Laura Rojas
#38
Haley Nalty
#40
Paige Delman
#43
Gia Arias
#46
Anya Heller