OCC claims two national titles

Jim Carnett, Special to the Daily Pilot

ORLANDO, Florida - Orange Coast College’s cheerleading and dance

squads both won national titles Friday night at the Universal

Cheerleaders Association (UCA) National Championships, held at Walt

Disney World/MGM Resorts.

For OCC’s dancers, it was their second national title in a row. The

Pirates’ cheer squad has captured the national crown four times over the

past five years.

This year’s competition marked Orange Coast’s fifth trip to the UCA

Nationals.

The two Pirate squads have grabbed a combined seven national crowns.

Cheerleading titles came in 1996, ‘97, ’98 and 2000, while the dance

team’s titles came in 1997, ’99 and 2000. The dancers finished second in

1996 and 1998.

“To capture seven UCA cheer and dance national titles in five years is

extremely gratifying,” said Coach Mike Reynolds. “We are extremely

pleased with our performance this weekend in Orlando. The kids turned in

outstanding efforts.”

OCC’s dance team qualified No. 1 in the competition this year and

competed in the open division against all non Division I entries. The

21-team field included 14 universities and seven community colleges.

St. Cloud University of St. Cloud, Minn. finished second to the

Pirates in the dance competition.

“Our dancers walked away with the title, turning in an incredible

performance,” Reynolds said. “It was a thrill for them to win it for a

second year in a row.”

OCC’s cheer squad competed against 12 teams in the community college

finals. The Pirates, who placed third in the competition last year, were

ranked third going into Friday’s finals, but ended up winning it all.

Palomar College, fourth-place finishers a year ago, was runner-up,

while Snead State College of Boaz, Ala. was third.

“Our cheerleaders were determined this year,” Reynolds said. “They

wanted to get that national title back after losing it last year. They

went after it with a vengeance and worked hard for weeks leading up to

the competition.”

Members of OCC’s dance squad include: Britten Jacobian, Channon Engel,

Nicki Neville, Tara Osbrink, Kat Caballero, Danielle Gonzalez, Kathy

Swader, Darci Manzo, Kell Madigan, Ashley Starns, Jennie Westergaard,

Paris Davis and Francesca Pomeroy.

Cheer squad competitors include: Leilani Rios, Dani Feducia, Ryan

Stimmler, Aaron Giron, Joe Stollmeyer, Athena Calderon, Rasheed

Richardson, Sumer Castaneda, Josh Sipera, Michael Funk, Brittany Harns,

Darrell Palmer, Nick Orlando, Leigh Jones, Mike Clark, Priscilla

Gonzales, Cassie Warta.

Reynolds said the Orlando competition constitutes the No. 1 college

cheerleading and dance competition in the nation.

“UCA is America’s elite cheerleading organization,” he said. “Our

winning cheer and dance performances will be televised later this spring

and throughout the coming year on ESPN and ESPN2.”

Coaches for the two teams are Reynolds and Dan Sapp.

The University of Kentucky captured the Division I-A cheer

championship for the fourth year in a row. Over 180 college squads and

1,200 cheerleaders took part in the competition, representing virtually

every state in the nation.

Throughout the weekend competition, university coaches recruited OCC’s

student-athletes.

“Our kids were approached and recruited by coaches from schools from

all around the country, including Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Hawaii,

Washington and Delta State,” Reynolds said. “We have numerous former

students competing on scholarship at four-year institutions today and we

saw many of them in Orlando. We had a great reunion of OCC’s alums during

the competition.”