CIT cheer and dance competition sees cheer holding steady, dance drop in the rankings

Photo description: The dance team shows off their skill at a previous home competition. 

Photo credit: Esther Molina (photo from previous event)

Maddy Peters

Sports Editor

The Saturday Concordia Invitational Tournament events began at 9 a.m. with the fifth cheer and dance competition in Mequon, Wisconsin, with cheer remaining in second and dance dropping to third.

The previous year, dance won their competition while cheer was just barely beaten out by Ann Arbor for first place. This year, the Cardinals expanded their lead, winning with a score of 67.30 compared to Nebraska’s 60.52. Dance scores were much closer between all the teams, with the Bulldogs scoring a 55.2, the Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons scoring a 56.8 and CUAA winning with a 58.1.

Cheer faced tough competition from the dominant Cardinals who had taken the past four cheer competitions at CIT. The 2023 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics cheer runners-up demonstrated their technique and prowess in excellent fashion. Last year’s loss for the Bulldogs by .08 points was an outlier, as the separation between first and second in previous competitions tended to be by around six points.

Dance, who won last year’s competition with a score of 60.52, outscored their opponents by at least five points. The team shot up from consistent last place positions in the previous three competitions to upset the Concordia competition in 2023. Ann Arbor, who took the dance title in 2019, and Wisconsin, who won in 2018 and 2020, have been legitimate competitors for the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs continue CIT events with the women’s basketball championship game at 5:30 p.m. and the men’s basketball championship at 7:30 p.m. Cheer and dance next compete on Feb. 9 at the York University Invitational held in York. Competition is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.