CHEER AND DANCE WIN D1 "GAMEDAY" NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

DAYTONA, F.L. - The Bryant Dance and Cheer team traveled to Daytona, Florida on Tuesday, April 2nd to compete in the NCA/NDA National Collegiate Championship competition. The teams spent all day Wednesday practicing their routine and perfecting it to be performance ready for the competition on Thursday.

The Bulldogs competed in the preliminary round of the competition on Thursday, April 4th in the Game Day Division I category. The Game Day Division requires a band chant, a cheer, and a fight song. Their three-minute routine was comprised of eighteen cheerleaders, eight dancers,two drummers, a twirler, and their mascot, Tupper. They faced three other schools in this division, Niagara University, the College of Charleston, and University of South Dakota, and soon learned that they were ahead in first place by six points and would be advancing to the final round that next day.

On Friday, the Dance and Cheer teams competed against those same three schools, performing their routine last. The final score was made up of 25% of day one and 75% of day two. The team all shared common goals: to go out there and hit their routine, and to make Bryant Cheer and Dance history and bring home a national championship. Their confidence and strength showed in day two and they absolutely nailed their finals routine.

Captain Katie Laquidara noted, “After our performance on the Bandshell, we anxiously awaited our results. As they called all four teams on stage for awards, we found out that we had earned first place and were National Champions! This was an incredibly exciting moment – we made Bryant Cheer and Dance history!”

All of their hard work and dedication throughout the season has truly paid off, and the Bulldogs were able to return home with a gigantic trophy in hand. While most of Bryant only gets to see Cheer and Dance on the sidelines of sports games, this is a whole other rewarding component that the teams work hard towards all year. Be sure to congratulate the Dance and Cheer teams on their tremendous achievement as NCA / NDA Game Day Division I Collegiate National Champions!

Check out the Dance team as they rally for next season through Instagram @BryantUniversityDanceTeam and Twitter @BryantDanceTeam! For updates on all club teams and information about intramurals please follow @Bryant_Rec on Twitter!

Written by: Bobbie DiScuillo