Pittsburgh, Pa. – Caileigh Kertis and
Abby McDermott earned
honorable mention weekly honors from the National Collegiate Acrobatics & Tumbling Association (NCATA), while the Duquesne University acrobatics and tumbling team remained No. 9 in the
second set of regular-season national rankings, both released Wednesday.
Kertis collected her third honorable mention NCATA Freshman of the Week nod after competing in seven heats and scoring 96% of the possible points at No. 1 Baylor. McDermott earned her second honorable mention, including a Week 3 specialist recognition, scoring 94% of the possible points across nine heats. Both helped score an 85.58 in the team event to cap the meet, marking back-to-back team events over 85 points.
The duo competed in Duquesne's highest-scoring heat at Baylor, a 9.85 inversion pyramid — the fourth consecutive meet scoring 9.85 or higher. Kertis and McDermott served as bases in the 9.70 compulsory pyramid, while Kertis also contributed to a 9.75 five-element acro squad.
In just its second season, Duquesne is the youngest in the national rankings. The Dukes have appeared in every top-15 poll since debuting at No. 15 in the preseason rankings ahead of last year's inaugural season.
Duquesne is 2-3 on the season and will welcome La Salle to UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse next Thursday, April 9, for its regular-season finale and Senior Day. The Dukes are averaging 256.814 this season and recently completed a stretch of four straight matchups against top-10 opponents, including three on the road. During that stretch, Duquesne posted a season-high 260.595 at Fairmont State and defeated then-No. 10 Azusa Pacific at home, sweeping all six events.
One more set of regular-season rankings will be released on April 8. The 2026 championship field and at-large qualifiers for event finals will be announced Monday, April 13.
NCATA National Rankings (Regular Season Release #2 - April 1, 2026)
- Baylor University
- University of Oregon
- Quinnipiac University
- Fairmont State University
- Iona University
- Augustana University
- Gannon University
- Saint Leo University
- Duquesne University
- Azusa Pacific University
- Glenville State University
- Lander University
- University of Mary Hardin-Baylor
- Wingate University
- Hawaii Pacific University
* The top 8 teams in final ranking will qualify for 2026 NCATA National Championships
** Results as of 3/29/26 considered in this week's rankings
*** Next set of rankings will be released on Wednesday, April 8, 2026
FOLLOW THE DUKES
Follow the Duquesne Acrobatics and Tumbling team all season online at
GoDuquesne.com and on
Twitter (X) and
Instagram (@duqacrotumb).
ABOUT ACROBATICS & TUMBLING
For more information on the sport of Acrobatics & Tumbling, visit
TheNCATA.org.
