University of Tennessee Athletics
TENNESSEE SPIRIT SQUAD POSTS TOP 10 FINISHES AT NATIONALS
January 20, 2006
Jan. 20, 2006
ORLANDO, Fla. - With the backdrop of the Magic Kingdom and beautiful blue skies, Tennessee reigned down on The Milk House at Walt Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex last Sunday afternoon. When the dust settled the Volunteers cheerleading, dance and mascot squads were the only program to produce Top 10 finishes in all categories, led by second-place finishes by the cheer squad in Division IA and the dance squad in the Division IA jazz competition.
"I am immensely pleased with the outcome of my spirit team performances," said Tennessee Spirit Coordinator Joy Postell. "Going into final competition, I felt as though my teams were more prepared than in previous years. Perhaps I am most proud that the University of Tennessee was one of only two Universities in the nation to have competitors in all three categories of cheer, dance, and mascots and to have achieved higher rankings than the other university.
"Although an award is not given for overall outstanding program, without a doubt, the University of Tennessee would be deserving. As the leader for all of the spirit groups at Tennessee, I am honored to be associated with such fine athletes and it gives me great joy to see them support each other and work together to make Tennessee' spirit program one of the most respected in the country."
The day began as Tennessee's dance squad took center stage for its first ever entrance into the Hip-Hop competition, where the young ladies led by four seniors got their groove on and stunned many of the longtime participants to claim fourth place. Clad in black pants, black pin-striped vest and an orange tie, the squad really hit their mark throughout the routine and got more than just the Tennessee faithful behind them. After completing their routine the excitement of their performance was more than evident as the ladies new they had given a top five performance.
"This is our first year to compete in the hip hop division," says senior dancer Saskia Lindsey. "Most people don't think of Tennessee as a hip hop team, but in fact, we're great at it. Our jazz routine is very emotional and stylistic, but our hip hop is all about showing off and having an awesome time on the floor."
The University of Cincinnati claimed the national crown. Tennessee was the highest placing SEC school with others like Alabama and LSU also competing.
Smokey took to the stage next in what was probably the toughest competition in years. Smokey, Adam Wade, played out a near flawless performance using the theme from Saturday Night Live. Smokey danced through the skit getting the fans involved as he went through his routine. Smokey could not fight his way to the top of the tough competitors however as he finished in seventh place.
Having opened the day with fourth place finish in Hip-Hop, the dance squad took the floor again for the Jazz portion of the competition.
"We've completely changed our dance style this year," said Lindsay. "Tennessee has always been known for changing its style, but we wanted to take a more emotional approach, especially with our music. This routine has so much heart, and it's such a great feeling to know that we are all here for the same reason."
The ladies absolutely rocked the crowd with their best performance at nationals in laying claim to their second place finish. Going eighth out of twelve teams, the ladies from Big Orange Country saw some of their toughest competitors go before them, and they met the challenge head first, loose, prepared and ready to steal the title from reigning champ from the University of Minnesota. Although the Gophers retained their crown, the crowd waited with baited breath as the winners were announced.
Then to cap the night off from this magical destination, the Vol cheer squad took to center stage, albeit the last of 19 teams to compete. Tennessee knew what it had to do to lay claim to the crown, which has been predominantly been owned by the University of Kentucky. But the Vols gave the Wildcats plenty to be concerned about as the men and women performed their most difficult routine ever at nationals and played it out like champions. Their second place finish duplicated their finish from last season, but this competition was in serious doubt until the final judges' decision was released before the ESPN packed crowd.
As the men and women vaulted and leaped through their routine, it was their cheer portion of the routine which really got the jam-packed crowd going as the team yelled out T-E-NN-E-SS-EE to the crowd before them. It is well known among those who attend these competitions if you can get the fans from other schools involved in your routine, then you have accomplished your goal, and the Tennessee faithful both on hand and back in Knoxville should know they were represented well.
So as the night came to a close Tennessee once again, minus a national crown, showed they are definitely one of the top programs in the country as no other school produced the results these squads did from Knoxville. As the night ended, the cheer team summed it up well, Rocky Top - Top That!
