DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The UAM Cheer team closed out the finals of the NCA College Nationals competition last Friday afternoon. After coming out of Thursday afternoon's prelims with an 11th place performance, the team closed out the competition with a 5th place finish!
The standing is a top 5 in the nation finish in the Intermediate Small Coed Division for the UAM Cheer team. All three Arkansas schools competing within the division finished within the top 10. With the University of Arkansas Fort Smith leading the bunch with a second place finish, UAM closing out the event in fifth, and Southern Arkansas University rounding out the three with an eighth place finish.
Arkansas-Monticello came out of their finals performance with a raw score of 83.4 (Max score of 90) with 0.25 deductions for a performance score of 92.4167 and an event score of 91.9005.
Head Coach Julie Barnes had this to say:
"As a coach, you always want to see your team be the best versions of themselves! Regardless of standings or results, you just want them to be able to give it their all, do their best, and have no regrets! You want to see them push themselves to be the best and in order to be the best, you must compete at your best and compete against the best! You know the level of talent that your team possesses, but sometimes they lose sight that talent along the way. We are our own worst critics, but it's up to us as coaches to build them up, encourage them along the way, and help them to see how amazing they truly are!
You don't want your team to settle because settling leaves room for them to look back and wish for something different than what took place! Quantity does not always mean quality and sometimes you must make tough decisions, but if that person is a TRUE team player, they will go wherever you NEED them, and they will do whatever they need to do in order to make the team come together as it should! Nothing is guaranteed until that last performance!
After prelims on day one, my team was sitting in 11th place out of 18 teams. We had two stunts that didn't hit completely, which cost us in deductions. The difficulty was there that we didn't have last year due to team size, but we had to it all of our stunts and dismounts for that difficulty to go up and our technical scores to go up! Our spirits were down, but we didn't let that stop us from pushing forward and preparing for day 2! We knew we were BETTER than that! We wanted to make a come back and we did just that!
I told them that we weren't going to physically change our routine because we could hit this routine. Our main concern was to hit what we didn't hit during Thursday's performance and WE DID IT! Second, I wanted them to listen to the judge's critiques, apply those critiques, and show the judges that we were coachable and that we wanted to move up and WE DID IT, with positive feedback from the judges!
The countless hours of practice, getting choreography a month before we competed, reworking the entire routine multiple times due to mat changes and injuries! We came so far in such a short amount of time and we realized as they announced our placement on day 2 that the work was all worth it! My team CAME BACK and placed 5th in the nation in Intermediate Small Coed Division II. We jumped 6 places and proved to ourselves, and to the judges exactly where we were meant to be. I am so incredibly proud of this team! Thank you to every single person who helped us along the way! We could not have made it without you! Congratulations to this team! You are all amazing!"
From our Student-Athletes:
Kelli Jo Stain; Junior - Psychology Major
"Going into the competition, our team was excited. All the hours we had put in were about to pay off. It was our time and we wanted it! After Thursday's performance, we were shadowed by a stubborn fear of falling. We chose to remain optimistic and motivate each other to push through our worst fears. On Friday, we learned to push away our fears and attack each obstacle with calm and confidence. I am so proud of this team and I can't wait to compete again next year. 💚"
Brody White; Freshman - Double Major Biology/Biochemistry
"I've never felt such an exciting atmosphere! I was pumped from day one and my expectations were exceeded! Although our first performance didn't go as planned, Skylar reminded me that God is the one in control, not our emotions. She helped me gain a new perspective which opened my eyes to see that the entire team grew a little closer to Jesus and each other as well. Lord willing, I'm going back next year for sure!"
#UAMCheer
