Pom squad dances into first place in Daytona
Nicole Jacobsen, Editor in Chief, njacobse@smu.edu
Issue date: 4/14/09 Section: News
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Held on the Bandshell in Daytona Beach, Fla., the competition featured over 200 hundred college cheer and dance teams from all over the country. Divided into 15 divisions, each team is required to go through a preliminary round before debuting in the final round, held on April 9.
"Winning first was an incredible feeling, we knew how much work we put into it and were so proud of ourselves no matter how things turned out," said Megan Sheehan.
"It was tough at times because practices were long and extremely difficult, but we were constantly encouraging each other and that is what prepared us and give us the ability to keep going and never settle for 'good'."
SMU defeated Western Michigan University by .144 points, performing a flawless routine with no point or safety deductions. In-state rival, University of North Texas, finished in fourth place, Western Michigan came in second, followed by West Virginia University at third.
Performing to a routine choreographed by Johnathan Lewis to Enigma's "Gravity of Love," junior Brittany Kemper said the team's endless hours of practice and hard work paid off in the end.
"This year we were actually the talk of the competition after taking first place in 2008," said Kemper.
"Teams and coaches seek out to know what style of dance we are doing, who our choreographer is, what music we are dancing to and what we do to make our performance the best. It gives us dancers a lot of motivation to know that other teams give everything at this competition because they strictly, just want to beat the SMU Pom squad."
A key component in winning the competition is synchronization. Having to dance as one unit, the team spent hours practicing their moves in perfect timing with one another. If one motion stood out from the formation, judges would deduct points from the team's final score.
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