The second day in Orlando, Florida, for the UCA/UDA National Championship Competition was busy and action-packed for your Minnesota Gophers Spirit Squad.
The day began when the Minnesota Dance Team set out to defend its Pom title. The Gophers have dominated this category, winning it the last three years and looking to win it for the fourth straight time. The routine was electrifying, with the crowd going wild the moment the team was announced. The routine scored 95.01, second-best behind Texas Tech’s 95.7. After their pom performance, Senior Matthew Greco said he felt super confident and was ready to soak in every moment of his last UDA competition. On what it means to dance for the University of Minnesota, Greco was passionate when saying, “ Wearing the M is such an honor. I’ve watched this team grow up, experienced them from the other side, and now being on the team is such an honor. There’s such a legacy behind this team, its program, and its culture. I’m so grateful to be part of that.”
The Pom team will defend its title at 12:55 pm EST.
A few hours later, it was the Minnesota Cheer Team to perform their first routine in the Small Coed Division 1A Traditional category. Their semi-final score of 80.7 was enough to advance to the finals on Sunday evening. While the Gophers finished 11th overall in the semifinals, that score gets erased when Sunday begins. “Definitely not the performance we wanted to put out today, but the team is really excited to have another opportunity for tomorrow.”
Coach Dan Weaver credited Abby’s boot camp to the success of the cheer team this year, Abby was proud of the team as they took advantage of the process and said that “When I look at them, you can hardly tell that we’ve got half the team that’s new because how hard that they work and all their passion and love they punt into each practice.”
The vibes around the cheer team were very positive as they look to showcase all they have in the finals. On being a Cheer Team coach at her alma mater, coach DeThorne said, “It’s extremely special. It’s a great feeling for me to give back to my alma mater.”
The Jazz team performed for the second time in two days, hoping to advance to the finals after competing in the preliminary round on Friday. Their performance on Friday found them 8th overall in their division. While that became a point of contention on social media, it didn’t deter the team’s focus, passion, and heart in their number on Saturday evening. While their number isn’t “as in your face” as others, they show superior technique in true jazz style. Their semi-final performance finished fourth overall and scored two points higher than the round before. The Dance Team will perform their Jazz routine in the finals at 9:39 am EST.
The day concluded with the one and only Goldy Gopher performing in the Division 1A Mascot finals. Goldy is four time national champion, winning it last in 2018. To qualify for the competition, the Gophers Mascot Team has been working hard since last March, putting together a two-minute national submission video for UDA. The team has recorded just about everything Goldy has been doing since that time. Every detail of Goldy’s experience is carefully considered by the Mascot team. Which shouldn’t surprise Gophers fans, as Goldy is always on his game during athletic games. The team works tirelessly to ensure fans experience Goldy at his best. Make no doubt about it, the mascot team is full of athletes who care for the University of Minnesota. Mascot Team Coach Wyatt Fitzsimmons said Goldy’s team is “some of the most committed athletes on campus, because they’re not here on scholarship. They’re not here because somebody recruited him. They’re here because they saw a cool mascot. They’re full-time students, a lot of them have jobs, and they do it all for no recognition. It’s an anonymous program. So never will they be revealed as the heart and soul of Goldy.”
GopherHole was behind the scenes after Goldy’s performance and saw how passionate the Mascot Team was in supporting the University of Minnesota. The dedication by all the members was inspiring and contagious. This is what makes the U different than any other place.
Goldy would go on and become the National Runner-Up in the Mascot Finals. Coach Wyatt thought the performance went great and that the team left everything on the mat.
On the Gophers jam packed day, Spirit Squad Coach Amanda Gaines was really proud of how today went. She mentioned that there were some strong performances and some really good learning opportunities for the Cheer and dance team on how they can show up stronger tomorrow. On Goldy’s performance, she said, “It was just incredible and makes us all so proud for him to take home a silver medal is such a cool experience for those athletes. They have worked so hard all season without any recognition, and so for them to get to have this moment is really cool.”
Coach Gaines is excited to finish out the UDA weekend strong, and she has given Gophers fans every reason to be excited, too.