DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Gannon University competitive cheer and dance teams went two-for-two on Thursday as the Golden Knights advanced to the finals in two events on the opening day of the NCA and NDA Collegiate Nationals.
In the dance competition, Gannon's Team Performance squad placed fourth among nine teams in the Division II preliminary round on Thursday night at Ocean Center Hall. The top five teams in that division advance to Friday's finals.
Meanwhile, the Gannon All-Girl cheer squad placed ninth among 14 teams going into Friday's final round.
Team Performance:
The Golden Knights' Team Performance dancers accomplished a big goal that they had barely missed during the 2023 Nationals. They advanced to the finals. In 2023, Gannon's team had missed advancing by 0.3 points.
This time, Gannon turned in a strong performance that merited an 85.225 score from the judges. That trailed only Tarleton State (90.375), Davenport (88.750), and Maryville (86.925) in Thursday's preliminary round.
West Virginia Wesleyan (85.05) also advanced with a fifth-place effort.
The Golden Knights are scheduled to compete in the finals, which are set to begin at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
All-Girl:
The Gannon All-Girl cheer squad turned in a ninth-place effort in the prelims with a score of 0.8862 as they performed at Ocean Center Arena. The Golden Knights had a raw score of 81.33 and 1.75 in deductions to reach the final score.
Dallas Baptist led the All-Girl division with 0.9748 and no deductions. Lindenwood was right behind at 0.9704, followed by Oklahoma Baptist (0.9541), Slippery Rock (0.9456), and Lubbock Christian (0.9441).
Gannon's All-Girl team will compete Friday in the finals, which are slated to begin at 1:24 p.m.
What's ahead:
In addition to the Team Performance and All-Girl teams competing in their division finals on Friday, Gannon's Game Day and Hip Hop squads will make their debut in the competition.
Game Day had been scheduled to open on Thursday, but officials moved the Division II Game Day competition back a day. Gannon is scheduled to compete on the Daytona Beach Bandshell on Friday at 2:28 p.m.
Gannon's Hip Hop will compete in the prelims on Friday at 11:33 a.m. at Ocean Center Hall as the Knights aim for one of five spots in Saturday's finals.
