IU Cheerleading Claims Fourth National Title
1/17/2016 10:13:00 PM | Spirit Squad
ORLANDO, Fla. - Assembly Hall's trophy cases gained a new piece of golden hardware Sunday evening (Jan. 17, 2016) when Indiana University's Crimson Cheerleaders, an all-female squad, captured their fourth national championship in five years for Division 1-A at the UCA College Cheer and Dance Championships at Disney World's Field House. Indiana beat out squads from Alabama, Rutgers, San Diego State, Western Kentucky, Minnesota, Colorado, Maryland among others during the two-day competition. The Hoosiers and Crimson Tide reversed finishes in 2016 after Alabama ended Indiana's try for a fourth consecutive national title in January 2015.
"This is a truly amazing accomplishment for the program," offered head coach Julie Horine. "The girls worked tirelessly perfecting this routine. They just kept getting better and better gaining more confidence the more they practiced during December and early January. The judges saw some of the most dynamic routines in the all-girl cheer competition's history. They had tweeted after Indiana's semifinal final performance, calling the routine amazingly difficult and fast-paced. Everything came together, and the 20 squad members on the mat Sunday night really hit the routine during the final time performed when it counted. I'm just so very proud of our program and the accomplishment of four national titles and two national runner-up finishes the past six competitions."
Indiana's Cheer coaching staff includes Horine, Tony Nash, Alexandra Martin, Liz Cross, Marcus Wolfe, Megan Grimes and Dan Greathouse. The national champion Crimson Cheerleaders return to Bloomington Monday afternoon and look forward to presenting the fourth national cheerleading championship trophy at an upcoming Indiana Men's Basketball game in Assembly Hall.