Cowley cheer and dance teams excel at nationals held in Las Vegas

The Cowley College cheer and dance teams recently attended the DTU College Classic National Invitational April 12-13 in Las Vegas, NV. Preliminary competition was held on Friday and both teams advanced into finals held on Saturday.

The dance team competed in the Open Team Performance and Open Jazz Divisions. The Open division included universities and junior colleges from across the country. The team placed sixth in the Team Performance division and third in the Jazz division, less than one point behind second place Bridgewater State University (Massachusetts). First place went to Fullerton College (California).

The cheer team competed in the Coed Cheer Division. The cheer division included all universities and junior colleges in attendance. The team placed second in the Coed Cheer Division with first place going to NCAA Division I Utah Valley State University.

"I am very proud of both teams," Cowley head coach Lindsay Sanderholm said. "They had solid performances both days. We had a girl become ill Saturday morning and both teams were able to make last minute adjustments on finals day to place high in all divisions. It is always hard to compete against larger schools, but the teams represented Cowley wonderfully."

Another highlight was beating in-state rival Johnson County in the jazz dance division.

The Cowley cheer and dance teams are coached by Sanderholm and assistant coach Chelsi Turner.