The Centenary Spirit Teams Compete in California at USA Nationals
On Thursday, February 23rd, the cheer and dance teams flew out to Anaheim, California, to spend the weekend representing Centenary at the United Spirit Association National Competition. The cheerleaders and dancers had been preparing for their biggest competition since the beginning of the academic year. They arrived Thursday afternoon and spent the rest of the day settling in and practicing in any open space they could find around their hotel. Friday was spent practicing, touring the arena, and watching younger teams, all in preparation for their performances on Saturday and Sunday.
The two teams competed in three game-day routines: a band chant, a fight song, and a situational routine. The first two were set to pep band music, and the third was in response to a fictional game-day situation where the athletes have to cheer on their team. Each routine was approximately a minute long, but the energy required would leave any athlete breathless. When the teams left the mat on their third routine, they all felt proud of the performances they put out. Coach King and the athletes were particularly impressed by the energy and technical efficiency of their third performance, the situational routine.
Two and a half hours after their combined final routine, the dance team put out a stand-alone hip-hop dance. The dance was about two minutes long and had been performed in different variations at multiple soccer and basketball games. The dancers were fond of their choreography, having made and reworked it themselves for so many months, so they were excited to put it on a national floor. For the dance routine, they would perform twice, once on Saturday for 30% of their score and once on Sunday for 70% of their score.
On Saturday evening, the teams received their final awards for their game-day routines. They placed fifth in Fight Song, fourth in Band Chant, and fourth in Situational, against twelve, eleven, and nine schools, respectively. The Houla Spirit teams beat several D1 schools, such as the University of Idaho and Portland State University. Being the only D3 school on the mat and this being their first time competing on a national stage, the athletes are proud of their results, but they are ready to take home a win for next year. On Sunday, the dance team fiercely performed their hip-hop routine again against eight other national and international teams and made their teammates proud.
With trophies in their hands, the Houlas came home Monday evening, ready for some time off after months of non-stop practice. While this was the cheerleaders' last competition of the season, the dance team has one final competition at the American Dance/Drill Team in Denton, Texas, at the end of March. After a few days of rest, they started back in the studio, a week after they got back from California. They will compete with a pom routine, a hip-hop routine, and solos from freshman Jo Hoffman, junior Nyla Pierce, and junior April Jones.
