April 5, 2004
Daytona, Fla. -- The 2004 competitive cheer squad rose above the high expectations set for it last summer, when Maryland became the first varsity cheer program in the nation. After its first year, the team boasts five regional titles and a seventh place finish at the National Cheerleading Association Championship.
The team returned home from the week-long championship in Daytona, the last venue on its season schedule this Sunday. After placing fourth out of 18 competing teams in Thursday's preliminary competition, the Terps secured the coveted top-nine berth to return to Friday's finals.
"On Friday we had an amazing warm-up and we were very excited to compete," head coach Lura Fleece said. "Everything seemed to be falling into place and we were as ready as we ever thought we could be,"
However, during the first tumbling pass (round off fulls), Brittany Manvilla tore her ACL during the move. Manvilla kept going on with the routine, forgoing her second tumbling pass.
"The second tumbling pass wasn't that important; we seemed to be covered well because we had numerous people tumbling so it wasn't obvious," Fleece said. "However, the routine was lacking the strength and perfection that we really needed."
Fleece commented on Manvilla's perseverance and dedication to finish the routine.
"Brittany did an awesome job doing the best she could, and in fact made sure her partner stunts hit."
Toward the end, the Terps were unable to hit their last 3 spoke high bridge pyramid, an extremely difficult formation due to its emphasis on timing. Mis-timing on one of the sides, led to disformation, a mistake Fleece believes earned them seventh place.
"I will say that overall I am very pleased with our team this year and how hard we have worked to get to this point," Fleece said. "I really don't have any regrets and don't feel as if there is anything we could have done differently to train for this competition. We were by far in the top three when if came to talent and I feel like we are on the right track to have our program move in the right direction."
The 2 minutes and 15 seconds time constraint in competitive cheer makes it very difficult for teams to recover from a mistake and show their true skills.
The squad is looking forward to next year, having signed outstanding recruits to come aboard the team.
"I am very proud of our team this year and of each and every person on the team that has made huge improvements both mentally as far as becoming true competitors and physically with their strength and skills," Fleece said. "This program is going to have an exciting future."
