Colorado University Athletics
Cheerleaders Finish Third At National Championships
April 13, 2012 | General
DAYTONA, Fla. - The University of Colorado cheerleaders recorded the program's best finish here Friday at the National Collegiate Cheer and Dance Championships, taking third place in the All-Girl Division IA competition.
In an extremely close contest, the Buffs finished the final round with a score of 9.230, just eight-thousandths of a point behind second place Illinois (9.238). Louisville won with an impressive final round score of 9.620.
"The girls really were amazing and did a great job both days," CU cheerleading coach Wendy Ayers said. "This is the best CU has ever done, it's just the second time we've advanced past the preliminary round and it's our first top three performance."
Because the Buffs placed in the top three, they will be part of the ESPN telecast of the event, scheduled to air later in April. In the preliminary round, the Buffs needed to be in the top five to advance to the finals, and they did better than that, taking home the second-best score of 9.188, behind only Louisville.
"Other than knowing we'll be on ESPN, the highlight today was being able to perform outside," Ayers said. "They have an outdoor arena and stage, and it's an honor even being able to compete out there."
Ayers coaches the Buffs along with Julie Gillaspie, who both where cheerleaders themselves at CU. Since they took over the program a few years ago, their goals have been to continue to get better, and this group took a big step forward.
"The last few years we've been sixth," Ayers said. "I feel like we've been sixth a lot and I don't think CU has ever finished higher than that. It's great to take a jump up and get our first top three performance."
Also noteworthy was the fact that the Buffs also changed divisions, this year competing in the All-Girl Division where the Buffs usually compete in the Coed Division.
"We were completely unknown going into this competition," Ayers said. "We weren't getting much credit; nobody was predicting us to finish well, so we are kind of the surprise team here. It's a great thing for the University of Colorado."
Earlier this year at the Universal Cheer and Dance Association national championships, CU's mascot, Chip, took fourth place while the CU Express Dance Team took seventh place, giving the CU spirit squads three top seven performances, the best combined performance in school history.
Chip has four straight top five finishes with back-to-back national championships in 2009 and 2010. The Express garnered a top 10 performance for the fourth straight season despite having one of its members injured about 20 minutes before the final performance.
