Jan. 16, 2006
ORLANDO - The UCF Cheerleaders took home the No. 4 spot at the 2006 College Cheerleading and Dance Team National Championship Sunday night at Disney's Wide World of Sports®.
The judges made mention that the top spots were the most difficult to judge and that UCF had hit some difficult stunts.
"It is nice to be back in the mix," said cheerleading coach Linda Gooch. "We got a lot of recognition for the difficultly and creativity level of the routine. Most teams do similar stunts and make the routines look the same but I feel that we stepped outside the box and gave the audience something new to watch."
The squad finished behind Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama.
The cheerleaders have finished in the top 10 in 12 of the last 13 years with one national title in 2003.
UCF's dance team "Knightmoves" finished tied for eighth in the national championship earlier in the night. Minnesota, Tennessee and Kansas took home top honors in the dance competition.
The squad has been competing Division I-A for eight years.
Earlier in the weekend, Jackie Martin and Randy Brown finished third in the nation in the partner stunt competition.
Division I-A Cheerleading Results
1.Kentucky
2.Tennessee
3.Alabama
4.UCF
5.Hawaii
6.LSU
7.Indiana
8.Ball State
9.Memphis
10.Oklahoma
11.Penn State
12.Ohio State
13.Minnesota
14.Central Michigan
15.Mississippi State
16.Michigan State
17.Kent State
18.Illinois
19.Oregon State
Division I-A Dance Team Results
1.Minnesota
2.Tennessee
3.Kansas
4.Wisconsin
5.Florida State
6.Cincinnati
7.Illinois
8.UCF
8. Michigan
9.Louisiana-Lafayette
10.LSU
11.Oklahoma
12.USF
13.Memphis