NC State Cheerleaders Earn NCA National Title
5/3/2006 12:00:00 AM | Pack Athletics
April 26, 2006
By Pam Monk
Unlike most athletic competitions that are measured by hours, minutes, quarters or halves; a cheerleading performance comes down to a matter a seconds. Two minutes and twenty seconds to be exact. That is the maximum amount of time a cheerleading squad is allowed for a competition routine at the NCA (National Cheerleaders Association) national championships. The hours of preparation that go into that two minute and twenty second routine are endless. Yet, the rewards can be great as the NC State cheerleading squad found out last spring when it captured the 2001 Div. I NCA National Cheerleading Championship. The Wolfpack then faced the winners from the other divisions and once again came out on top, and were crowned as Grand National Champions.
"It was so awesome to have all the hard work pay off," said Lisa James, head coach of the Wolfpack cheerleaders. "I was very excited for those kids. They have the most heart and work harder than any team I have ever coached."
This is the fourth time an NC State cheer squad has won a national championship, but a first for the Pack in the NCA competition and its first under James.
"A lot of the kids on this team were on the competition squad that placed 10th at UCA nationals a few years back - our worst finish ever. So for them to go from the worst finish to winning the national championship was pretty special," commented James.
NC State received a bid to NCA nationals after its strong performance at college camp last August. The squad then put together a video to send in to NCA judges in an attempt to earn one of the paid bids that are extended to the top five teams in the video preliminaries. The Wolfpack placed second, behind nine-time defending champion Louisville, and earned a paid trip to Daytona Beach for the national competition in April.
Then came the hours of work to create and perfect a routine in hopes of placing among the nation's elite. The Pack spent three months putting together the two-minute and 20-second routine. In addition to the squad practicing 20 hours a week on the routine, they also spent additional hours with strength coach Wright Wayne and gymnastics coach Mark Stevenson to work on strength and conditioning as well as tumbling techniques - all of this in the middle of cheering at the men's and women's basketball games. Most of the time, the squad gathered at six a.m. to practice before a full day of classes and cheering at games at night.
After practicing their finished routine in front of crowds at various NC State athletic events, the Pack was confident and ready to perform at nationals in Daytona Beach with hopes of upsetting powerhouse Louisville. But first, the Wolfpack had to survive the highly competitive preliminary round to advance to the finals. Only the top 10 of the more than 20 squads in the preliminary round advance to the finals for a chance at the national title.
Even though the Pack was confident heading into the competition, all did not go as planned.
"The things that worked were great, but the others that didn't work were awful," remembered James. "I felt like it went as bad as it could go, it was definitely our worst performance."
In addition to several mistakes during the routine, the final stunt at the end of the routine - the Wolf Wall - crashed. But because of the degree of difficulty and the earlier stunts that hit being so good, the Wolfpack placed third and advanced to the final round the next day.
So then the Wolfpack was coming off a bad performance and had to perform in the outdoor amphitheather at Daytona Beach in front of thousands of fans in attendance, not to mention the national television audience on CBS.
"We get only one shot, two minutes and twenty seconds to either hit the routine or fail. This is the only time we get to perform for ourselves, not for another team," explained James. "This is when we are in the spotlight and get to show off our skills."
The Wolfpack took full advantage of its alloted time and performed a flawless routine. The score of 9.49 was enough to give them the current lead, but they still had to sit and watch as Oklahoma and defending champion Louisville performed.
"We were huddled in the leader's circle, just waiting for those final performances and scores to be announced. We were so excited when the final score was announced and we realized we were national champions!," recalled James.
"This was one of our most competitive competitions ever, and NC State had an awesome performance. Their score of 9.49 is exceptional and one of the highest scores ever recorded by a cheer squad at NCA nationals," commented Bill Boggs, Vice President of Collegiate Programs for NCA. "Their signature `Wolf Wall' brought the house down."
One of the more amazing feats in dethroning Louisville is the fact that while NC State's cheerleaders are all non-scholarship, all 20 cheerleaders that competed for Louisville at nationals are on full scholarship. That makes the Wolfpack's accomplishments something for all NC State fans to be proud of.