Washington State University Athletics
WSU Cheer Finishes 12th at National Championships
BUENA VISTA, Fla. – For the third-straight year, Washington State University’s cheer squad advanced to the finals, this year placing 12th, Sunday, at the Universal Cheerleaders Association (UCA) College Cheerleading National Championships. WSU’s Crimson Girls and Butch T. Cougar also competed in the Division IA Jazz and Division IA Mascot categories, respectively.
“I think our fans would agree that these teams have grown up before their eyes in the last four years and I know that Cougar fans everywhere are proud of us, because my phone would not stop ringing with messages saying so,” WSU spirit coordinator and head cheer coach, Chris Opheim, said. “We are happy and proud of the effort, but nowhere near satisfied with the results. It’s nice to be called a program on the rise, but we are ready to be called a spirit program to be dealt with.”
Cougar Cheer finished 12th this year after placing 11th in 2015 and 12th in 2014, in just its second all-time appearance at the UCA College Cheerleading National Championships.
“I’m super proud of the effort given by the teams this weekend. It’s a very difficult thing to hit a routine completely without any bobbles or drops and we proved we could do that in the semifinals,” Opheim said. “Unfortunately, the law of averages caught up with us in the final round. This is a young team and I expect it to hurt for a little while before they move on and hit the reset button for 2017, but I have full confidence in these kids’ abilities and their passion that they are a top tier team now and for the foreseeable future”
The top three in the Division IA Coed category were the same as the last three years, although Kentucky returned as the Cheerleading National Champions after placing third in 2015 and first in 2014. UCF finished second for the third-straight year and last year’s national champion, Alabama, fell two spots to third. Washington State had the highest finish of any Pac-12 schools and was the only one to advance to the finals.
Under the direction of first-year coach and former Crimson Girl, Kaila Wallace, Washington State’s Crimson Girls competed in the Universal Dancers Association (UDA) Dance Team National Championships this past weekend, falling just two points shy of making the finals in the Division IA Jazz category.
“The Crimson Girls came within two points of making finals, which is a drastic improvement from last year,” Opheim said. “That’s another young team, no seniors, so I expect amazing things from them in the future.”
The top two remained the same in the Division IA Jazz category from last season as Tennessee won the competition for the second-straight year. The 2014 National Champion, Minnesota, repeated its 2015 finish in second place, while Arizona State moved from fourth last season to third in 2016, marking the highest Pac-12 finish.
Butch T. Cougar also competed for Washington State in the Mascot National Championship, finishing ninth. After finishing as the runner-up in 2015, Aubie from Auburn was crowned the top mascot this year. Last year’s third place finisher, Goldy Gopher of Minnesota was second, while Chip of Colorado was third and last year’s champion, Brutus the Buckeye from Ohio State was fourth.
