Dance Team Finishes Seventh Overall
The University of Kentucky dance team finished in a tie for seventh place this weekend at the 2009 College Cheerleading and Dance Team National Championships. The National Championships were produced by the Universal Cheerleaders Association and the Universal Dance Association.
The top-10 finish is one of many for the squad at the UDA National Championships. In 2000, the team finished in fourth place at this event. Kentucky shares the seventh-place finish with Louisiana State. Tennessee took home the top honor this weekend followed by Florida State, Minnesota, Cincinnati and Wisconsin-Madison rounding out the top five. Michigan finished in sixth place with Michigan State finishing eighth, Central Florida ninth and Memphis 10th. Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arizona, Rutgers, Alabama and Mississippi finished 11th through 17th, respectfully.
Most of the dance team’s success has come in the United Spirit Association College Nationals. In the USA Nationals, the Blue and White have gathered six top-four finishes since 2003. Kentucky has finished third in the last two years and second in 2006. In 2005, the squad won the national championship, finishing first in the jazz category. Before winning the national championship, the team finished in fourth place in 2004 and third place in 2003.
UK dance team head coach Cathy Coyle said the team was hoping for a top-10 finish and is proud they achieved that goal. She said the team’s motto heading into the weekend was “one team, one dream, believe.”
Randi Bishop Wins Athlon Sports Sideline Spirit Contest
In a national search for the university program with the most school spirit, Athlon Sports has announced Randi Bishop, a senior at the University of Kentucky, as the winner of its 2008 Sideline Spirit Contest presented by JVC. Over 2.1 million total votes were cast for the contestants, who represented 28 different colleges and universities from all major conferences. Bishop, a member of the dance team, won the Grand Prize after receiving over 232,000 final round votes.
The University of Kentucky dance team will receive $1000 in cash, a JVC 42″ LCD TV with an integrated iPod dock, a JVC HD Everio camcorder, a JVC Everio hybrid camcorder, and a JVC Mini System with built-in iPod dock. Bishop will receive national exposure in her own photo spread, which will be featured in the 2009 Athlon Sports College Football annuals.
This was the fifth year for The Athlon Sports Sideline Spirit Contest and is the second time the University of Kentucky has been named the winner. Previous winners include: West Virginia University, University of Nebraska, and the University of North Texas. This year’s sponsor, JVC, added broad national exposure and promotion for this competition along with innovative technology products for the winning program.
The four-round competition featured seven cheerleaders or dancers in each round (one from each BCS conference and one non-BCS representative). Voters had the opportunity to show their school spirit by selecting their favorite spirit contestant. This year, a new Facebook voting application helped bring out the very best in school spirit and the rivalry of college sports. Once again, the Sideline Spirit Contest has proved to be one of the most popular programs on Athlon Sports’ website.
Again we congratulate Randi Bishop and the University of Kentucky and look forward to next year’s competition.
Nationals Open Practice
Please come support the UK Dance Team as the host their annual nationals open practice on January 14th at 6:00 pm at Memorial Colisuem on UK’s campus. The team will be performing their nationals routine, and would love a big audience for support before their leave that Friday to compete at UDA College Nationals in Orlando, Fl.
Tryout Dates
The tryout date for the finals of the the 2009-2010 JV and Varsity Dance Team is announced: It will be Sunday, April 26th at Memorial Coliseum on UK’s campus. The tryout page will be updated soon to announce the deadline / cost for tryout tapes, which is the first round of the tryouts.
General Information
The University of Kentucky Dance Team, formerly known as the UK Pom Squad, changed its name in 2003 to better represent its purpose and acknowledgement of the team’s talents. The team had been success over the past several years when competing at their college national championship in Las Vegas, NV. At the 2005 USA Nationals, the team took home their first ever National Championship. The 2006 Nationals saw the squad bring home second, and the 2007 and 2008 teams received 3rd. The girls have been ranked ninth (2003) and sixth (2004) by the Universal Dance Association. In the 2004 United Spirit Association collegiate dance nationals, the squad was ranked first overall in the nation, ending up third in their division.
Academics are taken seriously by the team. A recent squad had a team GPA of 3.5, even participating in a local community schools CATS pep rally they have to get the kids excited about CATS educational testing. The UK Dance Team also likes to be actively involved in Central Kentucky area doing community service events to raise money for charities and also makes appearances at events that are fundraisers as well, as to give back as much as possible to the community. They have recently participated the following two fundraising events: Dance Blue on campus, and the Barnstable-Brown event in Louisville, KY.
The University of Kentucky Dance Team has several roles at UK. Besides competition, the team performs at all home UK basketball games and home football games. During these games, they are real spirit leaders cheering on the sidelines and dancing on the floor at halftime. The squad also makes special performances at certain away events. The team travels to the SEC basketball tournament every year and takes part in pep rallies and halftime dances. In 1998, they performed at the Final Four in San Antonio. For the football teams’ bowl appearances in January, 1999, and December, 1999, the Pom Squad performed at numerous events in Tampa Bay, Florida (1999 Outback Bowl) and in Nashville, Tennessee for the Music City Bowl, in 1999, 2006, and 2007.
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