By Emily Duncan, Staff Writer
Cheerleaders and pom team members will test their athletic skills at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics national championships April 6-10 in Daytona, Fla.
While this is not the first year for the large co-ed cheer and pom teams to compete at nationals, it is the first year for the small co-ed cheer team to compete.
Savannah Owen, kinesiology senior, said she has been a part of the cheer program since it started four years ago, making her a “veteran” of the team.
“We’re a young team, but I’m confident in the way that we have been practicing that we can pull together as a team,” she said. “We have a good mix of leadership from the veterans to calm the rookies and get on the same page as far as competing goes.”
Another first for all teams competing is the initiative the NAIA is taking to adopt competitive cheerleading and dance as a sport, said Brandi Cororcan, cheer and pom coach.
“After 50 colleges and universities said they would compete, this is what brought cheer and dance out of the emerging sport era,” she said.
Throughout the four days of competition, the cheer and pom teams will compete in various categories. Starsky will also get the chance to compete for his first national championship title.
Daniel Lakman, mascot coordinator, said this is a unique and exciting opportunity for Starsky.
“It is truly an opportunity for OCU to flex its muscles and get the chance to compete against schools that are Division 1,” he said. “We’re NAIA and they’re NCAA so we would never meet them on the playing field.”
Corcoran said the teams have been preparing for this competition since last year.
“We learned our routine at the beginning of October,” she said. “There has been lots of rearranging, from losing people to switching positions, but this is when we learned the core part.”
Choreographers from L.A. were brought in to compose the hip-hop routine. This decision was to insure the choreography was contemporary and followed dance trends, Corcoran said.
“We first developed our theme and music and then developed the choreography from there,” she said.
Corcoran said both teams are hungry for the national championship titles.
Natasha Kreitzer, acting sophomore and pom team member, said she knows what it feels like to be “hungry” for the title. During last year’s competition, the pom team was less than a point from winning first.
“We remember what it felt like last year to come so close to winning,” she said. “This has been a big motivator.”
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