DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The Gannon competitive cheer co-ed team finished sixth at the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) Collegiate Cheer and Dance National Championships this week in Daytona Beach, Florida.
The co-ed squad finished sixth nationally in the Small Co-Ed Division II with a 91.57 score. Competing in the finals for the third time during their three-year history after finishing sixth in the prelims, the Golden Knights produced their third-best national finish in program history.
Blinn (Texas) College captured the co-ed national championship for the second consecutive year with a 95.10 mark. Lindenwood (Mo.) (93.50), Central Oklahoma (92.43), Coastal Alabama (92.32), McKendree (Ill.) (91.82) and Gannon (91.57) completed the top six. A total of seven co-ed teams participated in the finals with 12 qualifying for the national championships overall.
The Gannon co-ed team had three perfect scores on its scorecard. In addition to a perfect 10 out of 10 points in the 45-second gameday that carried over from Thursday's prelims, the Golden Knights earned 10 out of 10 points for collegiate image and five out of five points in jumps. The squad produced the field's second-best score in jump TECH, third-best in tosses TECH and third-best in standing tumbling TECH. The Golden Knights also had the third-fewest points deducted.
Head coach
Meghan Foran's squad advanced to the finals with a 90.27 score during the preliminaries. Blinn College recorded the best prelim score with a 94.18 mark. Lindenwood (92.12), McKendree (91.97), Coastal Alabama (91.35), Central Oklahoma (91.25) and Gannon (90.27) qualified for the finals with their prelim scores. Limestone finished seventh with a prelim score of 89.80, but earned the final spot with a victory in the Challenge Cup later that day.
Similar to the finals, the Gannon co-ed team had three perfect scores on its prelims scorecard. In addition to a perfect 10 out of 10 points in the 45-second gameday that carried over to the finals, the Golden Knights earned 10 out of 10 points for collegiate image and five out of five points in jumps. The squad produced the second-best score in standing tumbling TECH, third-best in pyramid TECH, third-best in standing tumbling and third-best in tosses TECH.
