By Gilliana Taylor, Staff Writer
On Friday, Jan. 12, the LIU Cheer and Dance teams won the Open Spirit Program Gameday category at the Universal Dance/Cheer Association (UDA/UCA) College Nationals in Orlando, FL. The Sharks swam to the top of the category in the Finals, beating St. John’s University, University of Puerto Rico – Bayamon, and Northwest Missouri State University, with a final score of 190.6333. The victory marked the second consecutive National Championship for the spirit program.
The teams were led by Head Dance Coach, Kristen Greto and Head Cheer Coach, Troy Allen. The coaches couldn’t be prouder of the team’s accomplishments.
“Watching this routine come to life is probably one of the top two things that have ever happened to me throughout my coaching career,” Allen said.
Allen, who is new to LIU this year, was excited to dive head-first into the spirit program.
“It sounded like somewhere I wanted to be. LIU sounded like the perfect opportunity to develop and grow a program. And it provided me with many opportunities to build something into something greater,” he shared.
The coaches shared their experiences this season and the things that stood out to them the most this year.
“Something that I thought was cool was the division grew, and we competed against a lot more schools this year. It was amazing to see us hold our own and win against even more teams than last year,” Greto stated.
Allen shared a similar sentiment.
“The thing that stood out the most to me was how genuinely easy it was for both teams to combine. I think that speaks to the friendships and culture that have been created on the teams,” Allen said.
Greto, who is in her fourth year coaching the LIU dance team, was thrilled to defend the Sharks national title. She shared how exciting it felt to compete against her alma-mater, St. John’s University.
“It’s really full circle. It’s really cool that we are both in a division that is fairly new, and we were the top two placing teams. We really put the tri-state area schools on the map,” she stated.
Securing the gold medal was no easy feat. The pressure was on for the spirit teams this year to defend their title. Junior dance team member Dale Console explained how this pressure motivated the teams throughout their season.
“There is no doubt there was definitely added pressure this year. Instead of letting it weigh us down, we used it as fuel to motivate us to put an even better routine out on the floor. On the team, we see pressure as a privilege,” Console said. “It is a privilege to have the pressure of defending a national title, not every team gets to do that. We channeled the pressure to push ourselves to do our very best.”
The teams practiced for months leading up to the Nationals. Senior cheer captain Kami Shea described what the process was like creating the winning routine.
“The process is very interesting, fun, and intense. Our coaches did the most phenomenal job putting together a routine that was cohesive between our two teams, and our beloved mascot Finley. The cheer and dance teams must come up with separate elements in the routine that make it all come together in the end. Not only are the actual skills important, but the creativity of the routine is really what leads to a national championship title,” she stated.
Despite being two different programs, the teams love working together to create one routine and go after one common goal. Throughout the intersession process, the teams strive to become united as one.
“Although we seem like two different programs, in my opinion, we’re always one. This year especially, our teams became so close and we supported each other through everything. I believe that is the reason coming together for our combined routine is so easy for us,” Shea said. “We won because of our bond with each other as cheer, dance, and mascot. I believe we have a program like no other school, we all love and support each other so much.”
This bond between cheer and dance truly shined on stage. Once at nationals, the teams went through two rounds of competition, semi-finals and finals. During the semi-rounds, cheer had a stunt fall. Senior flyer Alyssa Kannavos shared her feelings after her group’s fall.
“Hearing that we were in first place going into finals was a complete shock. I was unsure if we were even going to make it to finals with my pyramid falling. I was devastated watching the routine back, knowing that we might not make it through because of my group’s and I’s mistakes. Hearing that despite a 3-point deduction, we were still in first place made me realize that we have something really special within our program that no other teams have. I knew that once we had the opportunity to go again it would be even better the second time,” Kannavos said.
Despite having a stunt fall, the Sharks spirit program was in first place entering the finals competition. Coach Greto explained the pressure felt by the coaches going into finals.
“We were nervous. I think we both put this really big pressure on ourselves. I think we were just overthinking it. We knew what the routine was capable of, and for it to not hit perfectly the first time, made us really hard on ourselves,” Greto said. “When we did make finals and had that boost of confidence finding out we were in first, they gave it their all and it was as perfect as it could be.”
Coach Allen described his worries entering the final round, and the relief he felt finding out the team’s placement.
“Cheer made a big mistake in semis, and I put a lot of that on myself. Then I started worrying if I had prepared them enough, or if the skill was too hard, I started questioning everything and I was really nervous. It’s something you do as a coach where you worry if you prepared your team enough, but that’s competing in this world. When we got the semis score sheets and I got to text Kristen that we were in first place, it was almost relieving. Even with the deduction, we were in the top spot,” Allen said.
The nerves were felt all around, but the teams knew their job wasn’t over yet. Dance team junior captain Caleigh Kellerman described her feelings coming out of the preliminary round.
“After prelims, I felt great. I was so nervous yet excited to hear who would make it into finals. Once finding out that we made it to finals, I knew it was now or never. We were all so ready and wanted to win so badly. We went out for finals and completely left it all on the stage. We had so much fun and really showed what a LIU game day is. I knew our final performance was amazing,” Kellerman exclaimed.
When the spirit program was finally announced as National Champions, unbridled excitement was felt all around.
“We were so happy, and it meant even more. I had come up with the idea of Surfin USA on the bus after we won last year. It was amazing to see everything come to life. I think because I dreamt all the time about what this routine could become, I think it made winning that much more special. And to know we beat ourselves from last year. It’s not easy to be back-to-back in a growing division. It’s very validating to know we are doing it, and doing it well,” Greto exclaimed.
“Of the national championships I have won, I think this one means the most because of the work that had to go in, being a new coach, coming in and having a completely different style than the teams before. In the moment I was holding Kristen’s hand, and when you hear the second place team, and you haven’t been called there’s this moment and Kristen just squeezed my hand a little bit harder, I just looked down and instantly had tears in my eyes,” Allen said. “When you get back into coaching and you leave another program, that weighs on you alot. It was just reaffirming that the career change to come to New York and LIU, was exactly where I needed to be. Throughout all the stressful and hard things that go on during intersession, it was amazing to have a moment of, we did it.”
The athletes described the feeling as an “overwhelming sense of pride and joy.” The months of hard work were worth the payoff in the end.
“We were crying tears of joy and hugging one another. Strands of confetti were falling on us, everyone was cheering us on. Our families were going crazy. In that moment again, I knew that our hard work had paid off and that going through all of our practices and long hours of dance was worth it. When you put in the work, it’s always worth it in the end,” Kellerman exclaimed.
Always thinking ahead, the coaches and athletes already have their goals for next year and cannot wait for more continued success in the programs.
“Now everyone is saying we got to do a three-peat here, but I’m looking forward to coming up with more creativity, and displaying even more unity between cheer and dance, and seeing what Troy and I can come up with. Even just growing the programs, adding more athletes to our roster it’s all very exciting,” Greto said.
Kannavos, returning for her fifth year, shared similar feelings.
“I am genuinely thrilled to be a part of this program for another year, providing me with the exciting chance to defend our title for the third consecutive year. Being a member of this team not only fills me with pride, but also offers the opportunity to contribute to the continued success and legacy of our collective efforts. I look forward to the challenges and triumphs that lie ahead, and building unity and determination to defend our title once again,” Kannavos said.
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