The IU Southeast cheerleaders captured their second-consecutive national championship on Saturday, March 20. The team traveled to Myrtle Beach, S.C., to compete in the All-Girl Medium Collegiate Division in the Cheer Ltd. Open College Nationals.
There were only three teams in IU Southeast’s division, but their overall score beat 17 other teams at the competition.
The Cheer Ltd. Open College Nationals competition is one of the smaller college cheerleading national competitions a school can choose from but is still a respected competition in the cheerleading world.
“We chose this one last year because it was our first time competing,” sophomore Eden Abrell said. “We still go up against Division I schools. It just depends on which one you want to pick.”
Competing at nationals in an open division is different than what it would be at a bigger national competition. At other national competitions the teams are divided into levels of ability.
“It doesn’t make you unique because all the teams there have the same things in their routines,” sophomore Becky Kelley said.
Open competitions differ from other college nationals.
“In the open competitions you never know what you are going to be up against,” Abrell said.
During the competition the team also picked up the CANAM Sportsmanship Award for the second time.
“It’s all about us, our parents and fans, the coaches and how we all act at the competition,” Kelley said. “The crazier they are and the more they are noticed, the more they notice us.”
At the competition, the IUS cheerleaders’ parents wore Mardi Gras beads, big sunglasses and “Cat in the Hat” hats. They could also be heard blowing air horns and showing their spirit.
The team won this award last year without knowing there was a chance to do so.
The CANAM Sportsmanship Award is announced after the first place team is announced, so when they found out they won, it came as quite a surprise. The same scenario happened again this year.
“I really didn’t think we were going to win the sportsmanship award again,” Abrell said. “I was just happy we won and then they said our name and I was like this is not happening.”
Even though the team was ecstatic about both awards, claiming the national title in back-to-back years gave them something more to be proud of.
“I was hoping we would win a second year in a row,” senior Gabrielle Harvey said. “I was very confident in our routine and the quality within the team. We all wanted the title so bad.”
The team worked very hard throughout the season to prepare themselves for the national competition. Nationals was the only competition the team attended, so they had plenty of time to get ready.
Coach Kaelin Abbott has been coaching the IUS cheerleaders for five years. She was the first coach to take the team to nationals. Abbott pushed her team to work very hard so they could do well at nationals.
The team gets only one month off for the entire season, which is the month after nationals. Tryouts are held in April each year, and the team begins practicing immediately. Through July the team practiced one weekend per month, which was usually on a Saturday for four hours each time.
They also fundraised all summer long to be able to afford going to nationals. The team held car washes, road-blocks, sold candles and sponsorships and they held a golf scramble.
In August, they began practicing at Southern Indiana Cheer and Dance in Scottsburg, Ind. They began taking tumbling and stunting classes one day per week for two hours, and they continued to do so through November. During this time period they also learned their routine. It took two long practices for the team learn the routine.
Once they learned the routine, the team practiced three days per week. In the two weeks prior to national, they bumped it up to five days each week.
The 13 members of the team then traveled to Myrtle Beach a few days before competition. That Thursday night they practiced and also did a walk-through of the routine on the morning of the competition.
They went back to the hotel to relax and get in the mind set for competing. The girls got into their uniforms, did their hair and make-up and then headed back to the competition.
Around 6:30 p.m., the team got to practice their routine again. They went to three different practice mats, in which they were given five minutes on each mat to practice.
After going through the routine a final time it was time to compete for their chance to win the national title.
“We work all year for that one time,” Abrell said. “Everything goes into that two minutes and thirty seconds of life or death.”
By ASHLEY AGNEW
Staff Writer
aeagnew@umail.iu.edu
