Last weekend, January 12th-14th, One of the biggest cheerleading competitions of the year was held in Walt Disney World at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. UCA College Nationals had numerous teams compete this year for the title of national champion. This competition is set up with divisions that each team qualifies for with certain restrictions. There are 25 divisions that teams across the country can compete in. Judges score these teams following the same score sheet through every routine. Every routine starts with a 100 and the judges take points away as they find imperfections as the performance goes on.
One of the most popular divisions is the Division IA Coed Division. In this division, the team can consist of 20 team members maximum with 6-11 boys. Nineteen teams competed in the division this year. The top three teams in the Semi-Finals were the University of South Florida in third, the University of Oklahoma in second, and the University of Central Florida in first, with scores above 90. Competing for the last time in the finals the University of Kentucky placed third, the University of Alabama placed second, and the University of Central Florida remained in their first-place spot with a score of 97.3 and a fantastic, entertaining, and energetic routine that left a mark on the UCA stage for 2024.
In the Small Coed Division IA, the teams consist of 20 team members maximum with 1-5 males. Fourteen teams competed in this division with the Semi-Finals ending with Purdue University in third, Bowling Green State University in second, and Florida State University in first. These teams had outstanding performances for their first impressions of the judges. Finals for this division had fantastic performances that left people speechless. Once finals finished, the scoresheet for this division changed dramatically from semis. Finals ended with Boise State University in third place, Florida State University in second, and University of Memphis. Boise State University climbed into third place after sixth place in the semi-finals. Florida State dropped down into second place in the finals but they still displayed an amazing routine. The University of Memphis climbed right up to the top after placing fourth in the semi-finals. Bowling State Green University did not make it into finals after having an 8.5 score drop between finals. Purdue University also had a drop but they displayed a phenomenal routine showing off a routine with engaging tumbling and impressive stunting.
UCA competing teams have two major factors that define each team. The teams can either be Coed or All Girl, these teams do not compete against each other. One of the most astonishing divisions at the competition this year was the All-Girl DIA game-day division. In the game day divisions unlike traditional, the all-girl divisions can have 30 team members maximum instead of 20. The semi-finals for this division were one of the tightest point differences with a 0.03 score difference. Bowling Green State University placed third with an event score of 96 which is already a very high score. In second place was San Diego University with a score of 96.0333. Dropping into first place was the University of South Florida with an outstanding score of 98.2. The teams that placed in the semi-finals are the same teams that placed in the finals but in a different order that shocked many. After having a .03 score difference in the semi-finals, Bowling Green State University and San Diego State University switched places in finals with a 0.9 score difference. San Diego State in third, Bowling Green State in second, and USF remained in first place with a score of 98.4333 after a remarkable performance.
Another substantial part of the competition was the Small Coed Game Day division with another significant point difference. The semi-finals for this division started calmly with amazing scores from the top three teams. Davidson College in third with a score of 92.4, Indiana’s very own Butler University in second with a score of 93.2667, and in first place was the University of Delaware with a remarkable score of 96.4333. Finals had a very heavy effect on these teams and changed the outcome for some. Davidson dropped out of the top 3 from the semis into 9th in the finals scoring an 88.5 in the finals. Hofstra University took an amazing leap into third place with a score of 93.4. First and second place stayed the same with Butler University in second place with a score of 95.4667 and University of Delaware with a score of 95.8. They were ending finals with a .3 score difference.
Although those were only some of the teams that competed last weekend, there were 12 other divisions that teams could have competed in. In those other divisions were more awesome routines performed. The University of South Florida competed in two amazing routines in the All Girl DIA and All Girl DIA Game Day divisions. Morehead State took first place in the All Girl Division 1 competition with a powerful routine. Many teams from our state of Indiana went down as well. This includes Purdue University, Butler University, Indiana University, Notre Dame, Ball State, IUPUI, and the University of Southern Indiana. Some of must-watch routines from the weekend were Butler University, UCF Coed, Purdue University Coed, and Alabama All Girl.
