St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Dance Team Places Third at Nationals
1/17/2005 12:00:00 AM | General
Jan. 17, 2005
Queens, NY - The St. John's University dance team finished third this weekend at the Universal Dance/Universal Cheerleaders Association College National Championships, held at Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL. Meanwhile, the Red Storm cheer team concluded the weekend eighth in the small coed division.
The Red Storm dance team, one of 19 schools participating in the Division I bracket, advanced to the finals on Sunday after a seventh place finish after the first day of competition. However, St. John's moved up to third after their performance in the finals.
"The hard work and dedication of this team paid off this weekend," said third year head coach Christine McCarton. "We went to Florida hoping to place in the top-five and we ended up surpassing how any of us thought we could do. The fact that we improved from seventh to third in the finals shows how great this team performed. Also, we greatly appreciate the fan support we received from our cheer team, family and friends throughout the competition."
The dance team improves on their ninth place finish at last year's Nationals. This year's squad is captained by graduate students Nicole Daversa (West Palm Beach, FL) and Blaine Amato (Elmont, NY), and senior Cristin Genzele (Smithtown, NY).
"I am so proud of the team," said Genzele. "Our third place finish is more than I could have imagined or wished for. It's a great way to finish my last year with the team."
The cheer team, making its first appearance at the Nationals since 2002, would finish their competition in the 11 school small coed division in eighth place.