Cheer squad succeeds at Nationals

Basketball games aren’t the only place you can see Georgia College’s cheerleading squad in action. They’ve performed in events such as “The Nutcracker,” the Peach Belt Conference Competition and most recently the National Cheerleading Association Collegiate National Championship.

The competition was April 12-13 in Daytona Beach, Fla., and the trip back to Milledgeville for the Bobcats was weighted down with the third place trophy.

Though the team came in third, it is looking to improve for the future.

“Last year we got sixth place, this year we got third. Therefore, next year we hope to get first,” base and team captain Kelly Walter said.

GC competed in Small Co-Ed Division II with nine other teams and the group was feeling the pressure.

“To get to Nationals, we first needed to receive a bid at camp over the summer,” Walter said. “After getting the bid, we had a lot of practice and hard work to get ready for the competition.”

Base Misty Heath, works hard every day and grinds past injuries to get ready for the team’s competition at Nationals.

“When going through a long summer and even longer season, injuries can happen,” Heath said. “Once Nationals come, though, you have to push through those aches and pains, because you want to do everything you personally can to help the team win.”

The Bobcats spent time on the first day watching routines and showing their support for fellow Georgia schools. The good karma came back around when all those schools showed up to give their own support for GC.

In the first round of preliminaries, the Bobcats received a solid 9.200 score from the judges, putting them in fourth place going into the finals.

Stunter and back spot Michael Clanahan, had a good feeling coming into the final round.

Cheerleading Competition Finals

“Going into the finals in fourth place, we knew exactly where we stood and what we had to do to accomplish our goal of top three in the competition,” Clanahan said.

In the finals, the Bobcats posted a 9.000, which boosted them into their third place finish. GC beat Bentley University and Blinn College, but fell short behind Hawaii Pacific University (9.535) and Valdosta State University (9.435).

To spice things up and attempt to get a higher score in the finals, the team added a move to their routine.

“The night before finals, we added a flip dismount to our pyramid to increase our difficulty,” Walter said. “This is what we felt would hopefully help us get top three and achieve our goal.”

By finishing third in Nationals, the Bobcats have nothing but positive thoughts going into next year and the future. This gives high hopes for the program and high school recruits will hopefully look at GC cheerleading in a completely different light now.

“Columbus State University hosts the GHSA State Cheerleading Championship every year,” Heath said. “This gives them the most ideal situation for performing in front of and recruiting the top cheerleaders in the state. After beating them and placing third at

Nationals, I really believe this will put Georgia College cheerleading back on the map.”

To watch a video of the Bobcats performing their routines at Nationals, go to varsity.com and search “Georgia College.”

 

Posted by Matt LaMothe on Apr 26 2012. Filed under Lead stories, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.