Mistakes in finals cost Pitt cheer team at national competition

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.–With the football and basketball seasons both over, Pitt’s cheer squad… DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.–With the football and basketball seasons both over, Pitt’s cheer squad and dance team got their chances to compete last weekend.

The cheer squad finished 10th in the National Cheer Association College Championships, and the dance team finished 16th in the National Dance Association College Championships, both held April 7 to 8.

The cheerleaders competed in the All-Girl Division I category and qualified for the finals after finishing the preliminary round in seventh place on Thursday.

“Our goal was to make finals,” tri-captain Katie Vassallo said. “But going into finals, we wanted to move up to top five.”

The cheer routines are judged on a scale of one to 10 in several different categories. Pitt’s strongest point was the squad’s tumbling, which received all nines. The team’s partner stunts, which lacked complexity, was one of its weaker areas and received lower scores.

In the finals, a combination of mistakes by the Panthers and strong performances by teams below them dropped Pitt to 10th place. The routine received a score of 8.25, but three errors resulted in a total .25 in deductions for a final score of 8.00. The point deductions were the result of a touch during tumbling, a partner stunt coming down early and a failure to complete a section of the final pyramid.

The University of Louisville placed first with a score of 9.20, edging second-place University of Maryland, which had a score of 9.01. Both Maryland and Louisville have competition-only squads. Louisville, winner of the last four national championships, received no deductions, while Maryland, which Pitt beat last year, lost .5 to deductions.

“They have squads that just compete all year and practice for competition,” Vassallo said. “They have separate cheer squads to support the school. We take the last month and a half to prepare for competition, where most of the other schools prepare for six months to a year.”

Competing in Dance Division 1A, the dance team scored a 7.67 in preliminaries, which was not good enough to qualify it for finals. However, there is a challenge cup competition for all teams that do not make finals. In the challenge cup, Pitt took fifth place.

The dance team is scored in four different segments: pom — which is similar to cheerleading — hip-hop, technique/skills and jazz. The dance team was strong in the pom category because of the amount of work they do at football and basketball games compared to other teams. However, their routine lacked the overall difficulty level to compete with the top teams, something they hope to change in the future.

“We were pleased,” tri-captain Stephanie Carson said. “We couldn’t have done our routine any better than we did. If we had a better routine, I think we could have been among the top 10.”

With seven members graduating, next year’s dance team will have a lot of new faces, but the experience gained this year will do a lot to aid those returning.

“The new girls that are going to be on the squad the next few years now have a feel and perspective for what to expect,” Carson said.

Brigham Young University, another example of a competition-only team, took first place in the dance category, totaling 9.55 points.

The competition was the first and only this year for both the cheerleaders and the dance team. The dance team did not compete in nationals last year, unlike the cheerleaders, who finished fourth.

The finals for both competitions are held outside just off the beach at the Band Shell stage. They will be televised Saturday, April 23 at 2 p.m. on CBS.