📣 Kansas Cheerleading Places Fourth at NCA College National Championships
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The University of Kansas cheerleading team traveled to Daytona Beach, Florida to compete in the 2023 NCA College National Championships, where the team placed 4th in the D1A Small Coed Division with a final score of 92.97.
KU head coach Drake Stafford joined the coaching staff in 2017 in hopes to continue the competitive mentality of the program. He’s joined by assistant coaches Madeline Woolway and Trent Pentecost.
“Like many other programs across the country, our priority is supporting the athletic department throughout the year. However, we are fortunate to also represent our university on college cheerleading’s biggest stage in Daytona,” Coach Stafford said. “With 70% of the team being first-year athletes, we knew this year would be a building year. Of the 20 athletes allowed to compete, 11 of our competitors were newcomers. Despite a young team, we scored in the top three in 4 of the 6 categories. I couldn’t be prouder of the level of difficulty and execution we put on stage and am very excited about the future of this program. As always, it’s a great day to be a Jayhawk!”
The Kansas cheerleading team has won three national championships in the Large and Small Coed Divisions, with the most recent being in 2021. In 2020, the athletic department announced the inauguration of KU’s first All-Girl cheer team. The Coed and All-Girl teams combined to compete in the Small Coed Division in 2021, Stafford plans to continue that competition strategy in the future.
Tryouts for the 2023-2024 cheer squads begin May 5th. To learn more about the tryout process, visit the Tryout Application page on the Spirit Squad website.
