Feb. 24, 2009

Bronx, N.Y. - On January 17th, the Fordham University cheerleaders competed for the third time at UCA Nationals in Orlando, Florida. At nationals, the team performed a two-minute and thirty-second routine filled with cheering, dancing, stunting, and gymnastics. The squad placed 14th at the competition, beating seven other schools, including Syracuse University and Temple University.

"We hit the best routine that we could have done. We didn't have the most difficult routine, but our main focus was to have a really clean routine, and that's what we did," says senior Lisa Santeramo.

Of the nineteen girls on the cheerleading team, nine of them are freshman. This year, the team had the largest freshman class that the squad has ever had.

"I had no idea what to expect since I've never competed at that level before. We actually have a lot of young girls on the team, so I think we did better than anyone ever expected," says freshman Caroline LaBelle.

Before the competition, each team was required to submit a video, featuring segments of their routine, which counted towards 15 points of each squad's final score. Three of the teams that competed at nationals received automatic bids for finals because of the high score on their videos. The Fordham cheerleaders competed in semi-finals, but were only seven points away from qualifying for finals.

"It was somewhat disappointing knowing that we could have made it to finals had a few other teams not gone automatically, but I still think we did really great," says junior and Captain Kathleen Stack.

In order to prepare for nationals, the cheerleaders attended UCA camp over the summer and spent the majority of the fall semester perfecting their nationals' routine.

"It was a lot of work preparing for nationals. It was actually a lot harder than I expected. We didn't have a single day where we took it easy," says sophomore Alexandra Rivera.

The squad also came back to campus early from Christmas break and practiced twice a day for a week before they left for nationals.

"It was such a great feeling, walking off the mat after hitting a solid routine. We worked really hard this year, and it definitely paid off," says sophomore Paulina Strzelec.

Although the cheerleaders won't be competing for the rest of the season, they will continue to cheer on the men's and women's basketball teams until March. Meanwhile, the girls will also be working on new skills, in order to prepare for nationals next year.

"After watching the other teams at nationals, it definitely gave us a lot of ideas for next year's routine. Hopefully, we'll have our routine together earlier, so that we have more time to prepare," says Coach Jennifer McCarthy.

Two of the girls on the team will be graduating this year, leaving positions open for new members to join the squad. Although their season is almost over, the seniors will continue to practice with their teammates, in order to help prepare them for next year's season.

"It's definitely going to be a loss for our squad to lose the seniors. At the same time, we're retaining the majority of the girls, so we'll know what to expect for next year," says freshman Brittany Bradley.