The Morehead State Cheerleading Program will host the fifth annual MSU Cheerleading Showcase on Sunday, Jan. 10, 2010. The event will begin at 3 p.m. at the Academic-Athletic Center (AAC) located on the campus of Morehead State.
The doors will open to the public at 2 p.m. and there is a $5 admission charge. It will feature the 25-time National Champion MSU All-Girl and Co-ed Cheerleading Teams performing their 2010 nationals routines. In addition to the MSU squads performing, there will be area high school and college cheerleading squads that will be performing a routine. There will be a special guest appearance by the Eastern Kentucky University Cheerleaders, the Northern Kentucky University Cheerleaders and the University of Kentucky Cheerleaders, all of which will perform their 2010 national’s routines at this event.
Both MSU cheer squads will present their routines before heading off to compete in the UCA College National Cheerleading Championships, Jan. 15 -18, in Orlando, Fla. The Universal Cheerleaders Association-sponsored competition will be held at Walt Disney’s Wide World of Sports.
The coed and all-girl cheerleading squads placed first in the country in the qualifying round, which consisted of a cheer video, as well as a one and one-half minute video that demonstrated the teams’ stunts, pyramids, basket tosses and tumbling skills.
“Placing first in the qualifying round with both teams is a huge accomplishment for us. This is the sixth year in a row that both teams have achieved this. We set this as one of our team goals at the beginning of the year,” said Tony Nash, MSU Spirit Coordinator. “We knew going into the qualification process that we had to step up even more than last year. The talent level of both the all-girl and co-ed divisions is growing every year, so it just keeps getting more difficult. “
This is a return trip for both groups. In the 2009 competition, the co-ed squad won its eighth consecutive national title and 19th overall. The all-girl squad placed second in the highly competitive all-girl Division I. The all-girl squad has won a total of six national championships.
“We have a great tradition in competition. Winning 25 national titles for one University is unheard of. No other college team in the country has accumulated that many national championships,” said Nash. “We are the defending national champions, so our expectation level from the inside as well as the outside is very high. We know that going in, so we work hard to maintain that level of excellence. These athletes must train harder and prepare more mentally every day. Since both teams qualified first, that puts a huge target on our back, everyone wants to knock us off the top. We understand and try to put that aside and concentrate on what we have to do as a team. My teams don’t worry about our competitors; we want to keep focused on our team and what we have to do to accomplish our goals.”
Additional information is available by calling Nash at 783-9495 or sending a message to t.nash@moreheadstate.edu.
