Now it’s their turn.

The Pitt cheer squad and dance team have spent the last eight months… Now it’s their turn.

The Pitt cheer squad and dance team have spent the last eight months supporting other members of Pitt Athletics. On April 6-10, they both will compete in the Chick-fil-A Cheer and Dance Collegiate National Championships in Daytona, Fla.

“The team’s main priority is supporting the University of Pittsburgh and participating in other community service events,” head coach Theresa Nuzzo said, “but a personal goal for both teams is attending a national championship and placing amongst the top teams in country.”

Many of the schools Pitt will be competing against feature exclusive competition squads that spend the entire year preparing for competition. Competition squads are excluded from cheering at other athletic events. Pitt does not have this luxury.

“Regardless of how much extra time we want to put into competition,” tri-captain Dawnica Green-Adams said, “our main priority is supporting the University. Whatever is going on with the University that requires us to be there comes first. Going to competition, which is something we all love to do, comes second.”

In 2003, the University of Maryland made competitive cheerleading a varsity sport, enabling them to offer scholarships and actively recruit some of the best cheerleaders in the country.

Last year, despite competing against competition-only squads and scholarship athletes, the Pitt cheer squad finished fourth at nationals in the All-Girl Division I category. Louisville, a competition-only squad, finished first and has won the last four national championships and is this year’s favorite. Maryland finished seventh.

The cheer competition is made up of two rounds: preliminaries and finals. This year, 17 squads will participate in prelims, with the top nine qualifying for finals.

Prelims involve a 45-second spirit routine in which the squad must get the crowd involved through cheers, as well as a two minute, 15 second routine that features partner stunts, tumbling, pyramids, jumps and dancing.

Finals include only the latter routine. However, the score from the spirit routine is carried over. The scoring is done by a panel of judges.

The dance team chose not to compete last year, opting instead to rebuild and strengthen their team.

“Two years ago, everything that could go wrong did go wrong,” tri-captain Stephanie Carson said. “This year, we want to give our younger girls some experience, so when they come back in the future, they know that to expect.”

Five girls remain from the 2003 team that, despite their difficulties, finished among the top 12 in the country.

While a theme is not required, the dance team has chosen to incorporate a jungle theme through their music selection and costume. The dance competition follows a two-round format similar to that of cheerleading.

Both the cheer squad and dance team will be previewing their routines 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 3 at the Cost Center. The performance is open to the public.