DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The Gannon competitive cheer all-girl and co-ed teams both advanced to the finals of the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) Collegiate Cheer and Dance National Championships Thursday in Daytona Beach, Florida. Both teams advanced in style with the best preliminary finishes in program history.
The all-girl squad advanced to the finals of the Intermediate All-Girl Division II, moving into the finals for the third time during the program's four-year history. The Lady Knights produced the second-best score during Thursday's preliminaries with a 92.20 total.
Grand Valley State recorded the best prelim score with a 93.12 mark. Gannon (92.20), Lander (S.C.) (91.45), California State-Stanislaus (91.30), California (Pa.) (91.10) and Central Oklahoma (90.65) completed the top six. All six earned automatic bids into the finals. The next five programs will compete in tonight's Challenge Cup with the winner moving on to create a seven-team field for the finals.
The Gannon all-girl team nailed three perfect scores. The Lady Knights received 10 out of 10 points in collegiate image and 45-second gameday, as well as five out of five points in jump difficulty. The squad produced the best score among the 11-team field in stunts, running tumbling, running tumbling TECH, jumps, jumps TECH, 45-second gameday, collegiate image and choreography.
The co-ed squad advanced to the finals of the Small Co-Ed Division II for the second time during its two-year history after finishing third during Thursday's prelims. The Golden Knights produced a 91.25 score.
Blinn (Texas) College recorded the best score with a 93.90 mark. Central Oklahoma (92.00), Gannon (91.25), McKendree (Ill.) (91.13) and Limestone (S.C.) (88.95) completed the top five. In all, 15 co-ed teams earned bids into the finals.
The Gannon co-ed team also pulled off three perfect scores. The Golden Knights received 10 out of 10 points in collegiate image and 45-second gameday, as well as five out of five points in jump difficulty. The squad produced the best score among the 15-team field in jumps, jumps TECH, 45-second gameday and collegiate image. It was second in stunts, pyramids TECH and running tumbling TECH.
The national championship finals are scheduled for Friday, April 7. The all-girl team will get Gannon's first shot at a national title at 9:35 a.m. The all-girl awards are slated for 12:30 p.m. The Gannon co-ed team hits the stage at 5:04 p.m. with their awards ceremony scheduled for 6:45 p.m. Thursday's 45-second gameday score will carry over to the finals, but all other scores will be cleared.
