ORLANDO (UCFKnights.com) - The biggest weekend in collegiate cheerleading has come and gone faster than the two minutes and 30 seconds the athletes get to show their skills on the floor. It was a whirlwind of a weekend for the UCF Knights Cheer team as they competed in UCA Nationals and the World Cup Championship.
Saturday morning the team competed in the semifinals. The Knights were able to work through nerves and jitters to place fourth and get the chance to compete in the finals on Sunday night, where each of the teams start with a fresh score.
The Knights' Sunday morning began early with a performance that the team hit at the World Cup Championship. They took home first place in their division and were named the Nation's Champion of the entire World Cup Competition. However, they were still not satisfied with that performance. The team met to look over their routine and critique it.
"At the invitational, in our first routine we were cautious, we weren't going out there and hitting our skills with confidence," Taylor Mort, a junior on the team, pointed out how they did not have the confidence they normally have while performing.
"Then we went out there and did what we knew how to do and it made such a difference," said senior Lauren Goldman. "We need to go out there and do that same thing again tonight."
The team took what the upperclassmen had to say earlier in the day and left everything they had on the floor Sunday night. The electrifying performance was their best of the weekend. The team's sayings are "All in" and "Seal the Mat" and they did both Sunday night. The team gave the performance every ounce of energy they had in them. They sealed out any outside distractions to have fun on the mat one last time this year with their friends and family, to show the judges their love for each other and the program.
A review from someone in the audience: "They nailed it. The place went nuts!" Orlando's Hometown Team won over the crowd with their performance.
The Knights cheer team ended up placing second in the nation. Another incredible finish for one of the nation's most elite programs.
The top five included Kentucky, UCF, Ohio State, Alabama, and Hawai'i.
The program has now placed in the Top 10 of the College Cheerleading National Championships 23 times in the last 25 years under head coach Linda Gooch, including national titles in 2003 and 2007.
More information about the UCA College Cheerleading National Championships can be found at Varsity.com. ESPN is set to air a tape delayed broadcast later this spring.
Congratulate the cheerleading team on social media by sending them a message on Twitter @UCF_CheerTeam, Instagram @UCF.Cheerteam and Facebook at /UCFCheerTeam.