The Gannon University Competitive Cheer squads had a busy and successful past couple of weeks, competing in three different events ranging from South Carolina to upstate New York.
At the most recent competition – Battle at the Capitol – held last weekend at Oxon Hill, Md., Gannon’s women’s team wound up in second place Saturday and third place Sunday while the co-ed team competed uncontested.
The Knights also performed Friday at the CANAM Collegiate Championship in Myrtle Beach, S.C., where the co-ed team finished first and the women’s team placed second.
Gannon posted the same finishes on March 4 at the Jamfest! Cool Jam in Syracuse, N.Y.
At the Syracuse competition, Gannon’s co-ed team leaped in front of the University of Rochester by outscoring the Yellowjackets, 89.78-81.38.
The Knights’ score was the highest one of any Division II and III teams that attended the competition. The squad’s high scores came from toss, where they scored a 4.9 out of five points, 9.7 out of 10 points for routine composition and a 9.73 out of 10 points on overall performance.
The women’s team finished close behind co-ed with a score of 85.03 points, just shy of the first-place total of 86.5 points.
The Knights competed against seven teams overall, including Jefferson Community College, Keuka College, Rochester Institute of Technology, SUNY Cortland and Mount St. Mary.
Their highlights came from receiving the highest scores in their division from standing and running tumbling execution, earning 4.0 out of 5 in both categories.
At the CANAM Collegiate Championship, the co-ed team took first place among seven teams, executing perfectly and receiving zero deductions during the event.High scores included 4.9 out of 5 for toss difficulty, 4.8 out of 5 for running tumbling difficulty and a 4.6 out of 5 for standing tumbling difficulty.
The women’s team had an impressive showing as well during this championship, placing second out of five teams.
The Knights tallied a perfect score for running tumbling difficulty, and other high scores included 5.7 out of 6 in stunt difficulty, 4 out of 5 points for synchronized tumbling and 5.35 out of 6 for pyramid difficulty.
At the Battle at the Capitol in Maryland, the co-ed team competed uncontested, but produced the highest score of all college teams at the event. Day one the Knights earned a score of 95.92 and on day two earned a score of 97.94.
The women’s team finished second among six teams after the first day of competition. The Knights had very little deductions day one, and zero deductions on day two. At the end of the second day the women’s squad finished in third place of the six teams in its division.
Both competitive cheer teams will get a chance to perform in front of the home crowd this weekend.
Gannon hosts the Road to Daytona Showcase at noon Saturday in the Hammermill Center.
Following that the Knights will close out their season when they head to Daytona Beach for the NCA Collegiate Cheer and Dance National Championship on April 6-7.
CIARA RAND
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