The USI cheer team placed fourth in the finals of the Open Small Coed Division competition at UCA & UDA College Cheerleading & Dance Team National Championship Jan. 15. The competition took place at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida.

The cheer team finished with a final event score of 80.4 in the finals after placing fourth in the semifinal round with a final event score of 80.3. The fourth place ranking is the highest the team has placed since 2014. The cheer team has previously ranked fourth in 2021 at a virtual competition during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Megan Ringer, cheer head coach, said the team has always placed around the top five.

“We’re trying to just keep building up the program and working to improve our technique and our skill and our difficulty so that every year we can work towards hopefully that championship,” Ringer said.

Hallie Owen, senior cheerleader, said she would like to place in the top three. 

“I think top three would definitely be an awesome goal for us, and that’ll definitely be history making,” Owen said.

Ringer said members of the cheer team come with different backgrounds and different experiences. 

Ringer said some members of the USI cheer team faced nervousness during the competition because they may not have performed at nationals before, while others had and were more comfortable performing. 

Owen also said the team’s performance was different this year because some members had not experienced competing before, and because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ringer said she will be replacing nine seniors when they graduate. 

“We will be rebuilding in a sense, trying to get new athletes in to fill those experienced positions,” Ringer said. “A goal would be to get those new athletes in and caught up as quickly as possible so that our skill does not suffer, and that we will continue to grow and gain new skills.”

According to Varsity Spirit, the Open Small Coed Division competition at UCA & UDA College Cheerleading & Dance Team National Championship is “the most prestigious collegiate national championship in the country.”

Ringer said she is happy with the cheer team’s fourth place ranking, but she wants to continue to get better.

“It’s motivation for recruiting new athletes and improving the program overall,” Ringer said.