DAYTONA, Fla. -- Morgan State University's Competitive Cheer Team has added another “first” to their list of accomplishments. On Friday, April 13, 2012, the Cheer Bears became the 1st HBCU Team to make it into the NCA College Nationals All-Girl-I Division Finals.
Usually the Cheer Bears compete in the All-Girl I Intermediate Division which limits the level of difficulty in the stunting and tumbling portions of the performed routines. After a pretty successful competition season, Morgan decided to step up their game and compete in the higher All-Girl Division I level to end the year with a bang.
Although there were a few flaws in the preliminary round, the Bears' routine gained them enough points to be one of eight teams make it to the finals their first time in this division. A ninth team was added to the finals by participating in the "Challenge Cup" round for those that did not make it to the finals based on their scores. The following schools were included in the preliminary round:
University of Texas, San Antonio
University of New Hampshire
Towson University
Kennesaw State University
Sam Houston University
St. Francis University
Central Connecticut State University
Morgan State University
Oakland University
University of Mass. at Amherst
Niagra University
Bryant University
Northeastern
Coastal Carolina
In the finals, the Cheer Bears did an excellent job on the hot and humid seaside stage of Daytona Beach. Although the routine had to be watered down from its original form due to various reasons, the ladies had the crowd's support from start to finish as they worked their Morgan magic.
After reading the judges' comments from day 1, day 2 the ladies performed with more zeal and confidence then they did the previous day. They did an excellent job with minimum deductions.
Other teams in the finals were: University of Texas, San Antonio, University of New Hampshire, Towson University, Kennesaw State University, Sam Houston University, St. Francis University, Central Connecticut State University, and Coastal Carolina University (Challenge Cup Winner)
Although Morgan finished 8th in the preliminary round, they found themselves finishing 6th in the nation at the completion of their first year in the Division I-All Girl NCA finals.
Collegiate National Championship – All-Girl I – Day 2 Results – April 13, 2012
Ranking---Team Name---City, State---Total Points
1---University of Texas at San Antonio---San Antonio, TX---9.500
2---Towson University--Towson, MD---9.065
3---University of New Hampshire---Durham, NH---9.038
4---Sam Houston State University---Huntsville, TX---8.923
5---Kennesaw State University---Kennesaw, GA---8.868
6---Morgan State University---Baltimore, MD---8.848
7---Coastal Carolina University---Conway, SC---8.808
8---Central Connecticut State University---New Britain, CT---8.580
9---Saint Francis University---Loretto, PA---8.535
