Cheerleaders take third in nationals

Pom poms of more than 100 different colors adorned the Milk House at Disney's Wide World of Sports this weekend for the 2010 College Cheerleading and Dance Team National Championship.

The UCF cheerleading team continued its success as one of the premiere cheer teams in the nation, placing third in the Division 1A Cheer Finals. It is the third consecutive year the Knights finished in the top three.

Head coach Linda Gooch, in her 26th year with the cheerleading team, said it takes competitive greatness to perform at the level the Knights have become accustomed to.

"You have to be able to be at your best when it matters most," Gooch said with her voice completely gone. "They worked for months and months, thousands and thousands of hours for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. You have 16 people and all 16 have to be perfect.

It is the fifth consecutive year UCF finished in the top four. The squad last won the gold medal in 2007, winning the national championship for the second time in program history. In 2003 they won their first championship, breaking the University of Kentucky's eight-year winning streak.

"Oh my god! It was just the greatest feeling I have ever felt in my entire life," Lauren Whitt said of winning the championship in 2007. "It still gives me goose bumps when I think about it. We were just freshman.

"So winning the first time we actually tried, it was so awesome. We knew that we wanted to do it again as many times as we could."

The Knights have finished in the top 10 14-times in the past 16 years.

Kentucky claimed their unprecedented 17th national championship. The University of Alabama finished one-full point ahead of UCF for second place, with LSU and Ohio State rounding out the top five. Florida State was the only other Florida school in the finals, placing 15th in the competition.

The Knights entered the weekend having received a bye into the final round of competition by ranking first in the South Region.

"We're just really excited to represent our school in the best way possible that we know how," said Keegan Hubbard. "And that's by putting on a really good performance."

Keegan said it is an all-year process to prepare for nationals. It is a time when the team tries to refine their skills to the best of their ability.

Whitt added that the squad begins working on the tape they send to the Universal Cheerleaders Association (UCA) in September and October. Following the homecoming football game, they focus on the routine they performed over the weekend at nationals.

The team held their routine rehearsal on Saturday afternoon at 1:38 p.m. in front a large audience, different from their usual rehearsals and practices. The Knights were one of eight teams that automatically advanced to the finals.

"Its so awesome because at practice its just us," said Whitt. "We don't really have the crowd behind us and yelling if they're excited about our stunts.

"We don't get that at practice so it's just an awesome feeling to get that [here]. We have to concentrate really hard on blocking it out."

The KnightMoves dance team also participated, taking the stage Saturday night for the final performance of the Division IA Jazz Semi-Finals at the Josten Center, across from the Milk House. They did not qualify for the 14-team final on Sunday.

Aside from jazz, the KnightMoves were a finalist in the Division IA Pom finals, a new event this year. They placed in eight-place after performing at 1:02 p.m. on Sunday.

Beginning at 5:45 p.m. the cheer finals took place. The Knights along with the 14 other finalists took the stage.

Following every team's routine the awards presentation took place with UCF coming in third place and winning the bronze medal.

"Unfortunately it wasn't the performance that we wanted," Gooch said. "Our areas of greatest concern was the first part of the routine and we were perfectly clean. And I know that the team probably felt like it had it in the bag and we lost focus towards the end.

"They just did spectacularly in the entire first two-thirds of the routine."