The Ashland University STUNT team's Great Midwest Athletic Conference season has come to a close.
On Saturday, March 28, the Eagles traveled to Grand Rapids, Mich., to take on the Tiffin University Dragons in the G-MAC STUNT Championships. They opened the day with a win in the semifinal round, taking down the Dragons 28-21 to advance to the title match. However, with conference championship hopes on the line, they fell to the Davenport Panthers just a few hours later, 33-14, in the championship game.
Against Tiffin, the Eagles controlled the matchup fairly comfortably, winning by seven points.
In the championship round, they kept things competitive early, trading points back and forth before heading into halftime trailing 11-4. Ashland came out of the break with a spark, picking up a couple of points to stay within reach.
The final frame, though, is where the Panthers pulled away, sealing the 34-14 win and a 20-point margin of victory.
Although the team came up short of a conference title, there was still plenty to be encouraged about, including several individual awards and honors. Head coach Denise Farnsworth was named Coach of the Year, Makenna North earned Freshman of the Year and Kaelyn Wagner was recognized with the Elite 26 award.
Alongside those honors, Makiah Francis and Makenna North were selected to the All-Conference First Team, while Savanna Mahaffey and Emma Miller earned All-Conference Second Team recognition.
With the weekend split, the Eagles head into Nationals with a 17-8 record. They'll now turn their attention toward making an impact on the Division II stage and positioning themselves for a strong showing on the national level.
This year's national championships begin Wednesday, April 22, in Nashville, Tenn., with Ashland awaiting the selection show to learn its seeding.
