April 1, 2004
Daytona, Fla. -- Maryland's competitive cheer squad has been working all season toward the NCA Championship, a national competition that showcases top college programs from all around the nation. The week-long event held from Mar. 31-Apr. 4, will feature preliminary rounds, leading up to the finals on Friday.
The Terps are competing in the All-girl I division, which consists of 18 other teams. Head coach Lura Fleece is optimistic about the team's prospects at the championships.
"The team is looking very strong and we are excited to be competing in such a competitive, intense environment," Fleece said. "Having the opportunity to compete all year really puts us at an advantage; many of our freshmen who weren't used to competing are now much more comfortable."
Under Fleece's leadership, the squad has garnered five titles in its inaugural season. Its most recent title came on Mar. 20 in Harrisburg Pa., where the team clinched the Capital City Classic with a high overall score.
The young squad has been adjusting all season to changing routines needed to accomodate for injuries. Furthermore, new choreography and increased difficulty of skills will be favored on the national scene. Just this week, the team added a basket toss which when executed to perfection has the potential to raise the Terps' overall difficulty score. Mimi Cuff is the designated flyer for this advanced skill.
"We have really worked on fine-tuning our skills this past week to make the team more comfortable performing and creating a synchronized effect," Fleece said. "Our team has really come together over the past few weeks and they are very excited to prove that they can compete with the best teams in the country."
All competitive cheer teams will perform a choreographed rountine, not to exceed 2 minutes and 15 seconds on a 42' deep x 54' wide carpeted, gymnastics floor mat. In addition to the 2 minutes and 15 seconds of routine time, the team also gets judged on a crowd participation score. Each team will be required 45 seconds of "crowd involvement" material when they enter the mat for preliminaries. During this time, the teams can employ modern or traditional methods to get the crowd to stand, clap, cheer and make noise.
The routine itself is judged on its technicality and choreography. This includes jumps, pyramids, timing, transition and flow.
