ORLANDO - Ranger Cheer departed Senatobia on Wednesday with the hopes of securing another UCA College Cheerleading National Championship. This time they had traveling companions, as Northwest Dance made their inaugural UDA competition voyage alongside the seasoned squad.

While neither team was able to capture a title, both programs finished near the top of their respective divisions.  Ranger Cheer continued to add to their trophy case by capturing second place in Open Coed Cheer Game Day and third place in Open Small Coed Cheer.  Not to be outdone, Northwest Dance announced their presence on the national scene by collecting a second place finish in the Open Hip Hop category in their first year of competition.

Brandon Casey's Ranger Cheer squad qualified for the Open Coed Cheer Game Day finals with an event score of 88.5667, joining three other squads in advancing to the final round. The Rangers (91.4) had a strong showing in the final round, beating out Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (90.6), and Northwestern State University (89.3833), but falling just short of Southeastern Louisiana University's score of 93.3.

Ranger Cheer added more hardware in the Open Small Coed Cheer category, finishing third place in the finals behind Wilmington University (89.5) and Drury University (86.6).  Northwest's score of 83.8 was good enough to place them ahead of University of Southern Indiana (75.65), Northwest Missouri State University (69.6), and Itawamba Community College (66.5) in the final round.

Second-year Northwest Dance coach Patrice Christian is no stranger to the big stage at UDA College Dance Team Nationals.  Christian was a Division 1-A Hip Hop national champion as a member of the Memphis Tigers Pom squad.  She also coached the College of Charleston dance team to its first Division I national championship in the Hip Hop category prior to taking the reins at Northwest.  It stands to reason that her squad would eventually make waves in that category at the national level.  Northwest Dance decided to make those waves sooner, rather than later, by earning a second place finish in the Open Hip Hop category in the squad's first trip to the national event. 

Christian's squad qualified for the finals by scoring a 90.0145 in the semi-final round, just off the pace of Lindenwood University's 90.6087.  Lindenwood took the finals with a score of 89.3333, but the Rangers were able to secure a silver medal finish with a score of 88.8116.  Northwest finished ahead of West Chester University (88.7536), Stockton University (86.1739), University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras, Rowan University, University of Scranton, and Westfield State University. 

For more information about the Northwest Rangers cheer program, contact Casey at bcasey@northwestms.edu.  For information about Northwest Dance, contact Patrice Christian at 901patricechristian@gmail.com.