2008 Woodie Awards
ISU Cheerleaders head to national competition
Joe Williams
Issue date: 2/1/06 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 1
|
"We're excited to go, but we're nervous because it's our first time," said Dananda Hancock. "College is a lot different than high school."
They plan to not only make this trip to nationals every year in Las Vegas, but also going to the competition in Florida as well.
"We have chosen to be a competitive squad," Head Coach Hilary Hofmaier said. "We have lots of new fresh talent on the squad. They are the most talented squad we've had in the six years I've been here and they have the desire."
They will be performing their routine for nationals at halftime of Thursday night's men's basketball game against Montana State at Reed Gym. It will be the first time they have done the routine in front of an audience and their last performance before heading to Las Vegas for nationals.
The routine performed at nationals will be more technical than the one we see at Reed Gym. In Las Vegas, the cheerleaders will compete on mats with a sprung floor, allowing for a routine with higher skill level than the hardwood floor in Reed Gym.
The Bengals are currently ranked fourth in the nation heading into the national competition. The national rankings are determined by prequalification videos that the cheerleading squads send in and are then scored by judges.
In order to cover the expenses for the trip to Las Vegas and entry into the competition, the ISU Cheerleaders have organized a few fundraising activities, including selling Papa Johns Pizza cards and shirts for nationals, among other things. They have raised about $9,000, which will not only pay for the trip but also buy new uniforms for next year as well.
They will leave for Las Vegas on Saturday. They will compete in the preliminary round on Sunday, performing one routine that lasts two and one half minutes. Once the preliminary round is complete, the top half of the squads competing in the preliminary round will advance to the final round on Monday, where they will perform the same routine again.
The ISU Cheerleaders have lofty expectations heading into the competition.
"Our goal is the top three," Hofmaier said. "We set our expectations high. We feel it is realistic."
No matter where they finish in the standings, the ISU Cheerleaders want to put forth their best effort.
"We want to give it all we got and leave knowing we did our best," said Tyler Drury.
During the two and one half minute routine they must include six different elements, stunts, pyramids, tumbling, cheer, dance and basket tosses. The preparation for this routine began all the way back in August, working on the different skills. They began work on the choreography in October.
The ISU Cheerleaders put in around 20 hours each week between practice, workouts, and cheering at ISU football, volleyball, and basketball games. As the national competition has become closer they have been working even harder, putting in closer to 30 hours in some weeks.
They are focused on the competition, but also hope to have some fun in Las Vegas as well.
"After we compete we can have fun," Whitney Driever said.