ORLANDO - On the final day of competition at UCA/UDA College Nationals, the Northwest cheer and dance teams successfully defended its two national championships from last season.

Following a national championship in the Open Co-Ed Game Day division on Saturday evening, coach Brandon Casey's Northwest cheer squad clinched the Open All-Girl Traditional national title on Sunday afternoon, successfully repeating last year's gold medal victory.

Meanwhile, coach Patrice Christian's Northwest dance team also went back-to-back on Sunday evening, capturing the Open Hip-Hop national title for the second consecutive season. 

In the Open All-Girl Traditional cheer division, Northwest rebounded from a second-place finish in the semifinals to score an 82.9 mark with no deductions in the finals. The Rangers finished ahead of six other schools, including runners-up Pearl River, which earned an 81.2 event score.

Additionally, Northwest also took home a silver medal in the Open Small Co-Ed Traditional division, finishing in a tie with Itawamba as both schools earned event scores of 85.5 after one deduction. Iowa Western won the event with a final score of 86.4 after a deduction of its own.

In dance, the Rangers posted a raw score of 97.85 in the Open Hip-Hop Semifinals, advancing to the finals with 93.1905 event score. Northwest was one of 21 competing schools in the division and one of 11 to advance to the finals.

Northwest never faltered from its No. 1 spot in the finals, as the Rangers finished with a 99.9333 raw score and a 95.1746 event score. West Chester University, the runners-up in the Open Hip-Hop Finals, finished nearly five points behind Northwest.

(*This story will be updated with quotes from coaches Casey and Christian.)