Lentz named Freshman of the Year, Lions place four on All-CC teams

GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Mars Hill acrobatics & tumbling team placed four Lions on the 2026 Conference Carolinas All-Conference Teams, as released Thursday morning.

Anna Lentz of Mars Hill University was tabbed Conference Carolinas Freshman of the Year. She was also named as a Second Team All-Conference honoree.

Lentz competed in 9-10 heats per meet, plus the team event. She played a vital role as the main top and tumbler in five program records broken this season- one of those records include her solo 6-element tumbling pass, where she scored a 9.375/9.55, which is the highest tumbling score to date in Mars Hill program history. Lentz consistently competed as the top in compulsory acro (breaking a program record with a 9.25), compulsory pyramid, compulsory tumbling (breaking a program record with a 9.0), 6-element acro as the top in a 10.0 start value heat, and then competed a double full toss in duo and open toss, scoring in open toss a 9.4, 9.5, and 9.6 in the final three meets of the season. She helped the team competed the highest start value toss total in program history with 9.9 start values in every heat. She consistently competed as a crossover athlete in tumbling event, competing a 9.55 duo pass as well as a 9.55-9.75 pass in an individual heat every meet- the highest duo pass and individual passes to ever be competed in Mars Hill history.

Both Zoey Franklin and Kerry Hampson were named First Team All-Conference selections.

Franklin consistently competed in 12 heats throughout the season, in addition to team event. Franklin received Conference Carolinas Specialist of the Week two weeks in a row when she broke, then re-broke a program record in inversion pyramid heat with a 9.95/10.0, and hit season highs of a 9.75/10.0 in duo pyramid and 9.9/10 in open pyramid. Franklin was the main top in 6 of the program records set this season in compulsory acro (9.25), compulsory tumbling (9.0), 6-element acro (9.25/10), 7-element acro (9.85/10.0), inversion pyramid (9.95/10.0), and open pyramid (9.95/10). She consistently competed as a crossover athlete in acro event, pyramid event, toss event, and competed in quad tumbling event. Her season highlights included:

• Broke six program records
• Tied three program records
• Scored the highest score to date in program history of a 9.95 in inversion and open pyramids
• Averaged highest conference score in inversion pyramid with an average 9.71
• Consistently rebroke the program record in inversion pyramid for the first 4 meets of the season
• Is currently in the number three open bid spot in inversion pyramid for NCATA Event Finals
• Competed the program's first-ever 10.0 start value inversion pyramid

Hampson consistently competed in 10 heats throughout the season, in addition to team event. Hampson was the main base and main mid in five of the program records set this season in compulsory acro (9.25), 7-element acro (9.85/10.0), inversion pyramid (9.95/10.0), open pyramid (9.95/10.0), and open toss (9.6/9.9). She also highlighted scores of 9.8 in compulsory pyramid, 9.6 in acro 5 element, averaged a 9.55 in acro 7 element, and 9.75/10.0 in duo pyramid. She consistently competed as a crossover athlete in acro event, pyramid event, and toss event. The inversion pyramid, which she mids, is currently in the number three open bid spot for NCATA Event Finals.

Kendra Foster was named to the All-Conference Second Team.

Foster consistently competed in eight heats in addition to team event, as a main base and tumbler. Foster competed in events, breaking two program records of a 9.25 in compulsory acro and 9.6/9.9 in open toss, as the base in both. She also helped the team tie two more program records scoring a 9.75/10.0 in duo pyramid as a mid standing on a bridge base, and scoring a 9.8 in compulsory pyramid, also as the mid. Foster competes a round off full in quad tumbling averaging a 7.58/8.0 throughout the season.

To read the full release, please click here.