Tennessee Spirit Medals All Three Teams at Nationals

ORLANDO, Fla. – The Tennessee Spirit Squad earned a trio of medals over the weekend at the Universal Cheer Association and Universal Dance Association National Finals at ESPN Wide World of Sports, with each team claiming hardware. Tennessee was the only spirit program in the nation to place each of its cheer, dance and mascot teams in the top three.

"We prepare and compete to win championships, but to be the only program in the nation for the third year in a row to medal all three of our teams is truly incredible and proves the culture of excellence that we are proud of in our program," spirit program director and head dance coach Kelley Tafazzoli said. "We were close to winning all three, but we will continue to train and recruit to represent Big Orange nation next year while still bringing the best fan experience we can year-round on Rocky Top."

The cheer squad finished second in the Division IA Gameday category with a score of 97.3333, under half a point behind Cincinnati which carded a 97.8. UT also secured an eighth-place finish in the traditional routine competition with a 86.25. The dance team finished with a trio of top 10 performances, finishing third in Division IA Pom (96.6087), fourth in Jazz Routine (94.913) and seventh in Gameday (92.3167). Smokey placed second in Division IA Costume Mascot Competition, finishing just 0.3 behind Cincinnati's Bearcat.

More than 40 Division IA (FBS) universities competed at the national competition, but only six schools had two of its teams earn top-3 finishes, underscoring the significance of Tennessee medaling all three teams. This year's competition marks the third consecutive year the 12-time National Champion Tennessee Spirit Squad was the only program to have all three of its teams medal at the national competition.

Results

Division IA Dance - Jazz Finals

1. Minnesota, 97.087

2. Ohio State, 96.6087

3. Florida State, 95.2899

4. Tennessee, 94.913

5. Michigan, 94.4783

6. Texas Tech, 94.4348

7. Washington State, 93

8. LSU, 92.4493

9. Alabama, 92.3913

10. Iowa, 91.2029

Division IA Dance - Pom Finals

1. Minnesota, 99.1449

2. Ohio State, 98.2754

3. Tennessee, 96.6087

4. Iowa, 95.8406

5. Cincinnati, 95.3116

6. Penn State, 94.942

7. Memphis, 94.2971

Division IA Coed Cheer - Gameday Finals

1. Cincinnati, 97.8

2. Tennessee, 97.3333

3. USF, 95.5

4. Minnesota, 95.3667

5. LSU, 95.3333

6. Memphis, 94.2667

7. Penn State, 93.4333

8. Troy, 92.3333

9. Notre Dame, 90.4

10. Louisiana Tech, 87.1667

Division IA Coed Cheer - Routine Finals

1. USF, 93.4

2. Kentucky, 93.1

3. Ohio State, 92

4. UCF, 90.75

5. Oklahoma, 89.6

6. Alabama, 88.8

7. Western Kentucky, 87.9

8. Tennessee, 86.25

9. Louisiana, 77

10. Liberty, 72.9

Division IA Mascot - Finals

1. Cincinnati, 88.8

2. Tennessee, 88.5

3. Auburn, 88.1

4. Wisconsin, 86.525

5. Minnesota, 86.425

6. Penn State, 81.525

7. Texas, 80.4

8. Oklahoma, 79.8

9. Colorado, 78.2

10. Liberty, 78.075

University of Tennessee Athletics

Related Videos