Michigan Cheer Team Adds Second Event for Nationals
4/3/2019 5:24:00 PM | Spirit Department
THIS WEEK
Thu-Fri., April 4-5 -- NCA & NDA Collegiate Cheer and Dance Championship (Daytona Beach, Fla.)
Thursday, April 4 -- Game Day IA Prelims (Ocean Center), 2:17 p.m.
Thursday, April 4 -- Intermediate Coed IA Prelims (Band Shell), 5:36 p.m.
Friday, April 5 -- Game Day IA Final (Band Shell), 2:08 p.m. (if advance)
Friday, April 5 -- Intermediate Coed IA Final (Ocean Center), 4:40 p.m. (if advance)
• Performance Information: Order of Competition | Social Media Updates | Tickets | Varsity TV
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The University of Michigan cheer team will head to Daytona Beach, Florida, for the 2019 NCA & NDA Collegiate Cheer and Dance Championship this week (April 4-5). Michigan will compete at 2:17 p.m. on Thursday (April 4) in the Game Day IA division prelims at the Ocean Center, followed by the Intermediate Coed IA category prelims shortly afterwards at 5:36 p.m. in the Band Shell. If the teams advance to the finals, they will compete Friday (April 5).
Meet Information
• Michigan will look to improve upon a second-place finish in the Intermediate Coed category and third place in the Game Day category from last year's event.
• U-M has won four of the last six intermediate coed championships.
• The event will be streamed live on Varsity.com ($)
U-M held a free "Friends and Family" performance on Tuesday (April 2) to preview both its Intermediate Coed and Game Day routines at Cliff Keen Arena.
"Last year, since it was the first year for the Game Day competition, we were just out there trying to see what it was about," said senior Emily Slavkin, who is one of two remaining team members from the 2015 NCA championship team. "Now that we know what it is like, we have changed the routine around a little bit and honed our skills. We think that since we now know what the judges are looking for, we have a really good shot of having a really great competition."
The Game Day category allows a school to not only have additional cheerleaders compete, but also to collaborate with the overall spirit program at the university. Head coach Pam St. John was excited about the chance to collaborate with the Michigan dance team and the Michigan marching band. The routine will feature a full-squad cheer team, six dance team members, six drummers from the marching band as well as a twirler.
"Our routines this year have a much higher degree of difficulty than last season," said St. John. "They are also more intricate this year than last, as we have incorporated the band, and we also have a twirler with us this year, so the Game Day is really exciting, and it has really formed a cohesiveness between the different spirit groups at U-M."
"This is my second year competing in the Game Day division," said senior Joe Solomon. "It's been really neat to get to know the drum line and our band members and our twirler, who has been fantastic. It is one of my favorite routines that I have done, and it is a lot of game day magic on the mat."
Michigan has been a strong team in the Intermediate Coed division, winning four of the last six titles. The team placed third last year and has worked since September to get back on top.
"Our performance has a lot of flair with lots of things going on. We've been working on it since December, and we snapped our fingers and now it's time to leave and compete," said junior Meghan Mesojedec, who will compete in the Intermediate Coed group. "We are super excited, and everyone is very prepared to go out and perform our routine to the best of our abilities so we're very excited to hopefully go win a championship for Michigan. We are ready to win, and we know that if that we hit our stunts and stick our routines, everything is in the judges hands, but we have done the best we can do to go out and win a championship."
One of the challenges the team has faced heading into this year's competition is the men's basketball team's Sweet 16 run. The month of March was very memorable for the cheer team as they supported the Wolverines throughout the Big Ten Tournament week and over the two weeks of the NCAA Tournament, but it also has left them with limited practices together as a unit.
