Another cheer competition, another first-place finish.
Gannon University’s competitive cheer team – in its second season – has found consistent success as the program grows.
From 13 girls in its inaugural season to the now 24 cheerleaders, the team has added members while continuing to build the program’s strong foundation with another competition first place.
Gannon competed at the JDRF Cheer for a Cure Saturday afternoon in Niagara Falls, N.Y. and took home first place for the second consecutive year.
The Knights received 99.5 points out of a possible 130 as they beat out NCAA Division I Canisius and SUNY Brockport. Gannon received scores of 26 of 35 for both tumbling execution and difficulty, 23.5 of 30 for building execution and 24 of 30 points for building difficulty.
One member of the competitive cheer team, in her second year, has had a hand – quite literally – in the team’s success. Junior base Kerri Makay has been a part of all four regular-season competition first places and the eighth-place finish overall in nationals last season.
“I think that our season last year showed how much potential this program can have, and set the bar for this year’s team to continue to keep building and take it to the next level,” Makay said.
Gannon has won its first two meets of the year and uses execution to separate from other competitive cheer teams.
“What sets us apart is the performance element,” Makay said. “We work really hard on our skills just like the other teams we compete against do, I’m sure, but as a team we go out on the floor and execute our routine and perform at a high level when it counts.”
The competitive cheer team has placed first in every regular-season competition thus far and looks to keep the program’s record perfect on Sunday at the Red Hot Cheer and Dance Competition hosted by Clarion University.
ADAM BLAZEK
