Dance & Cheer teams place 6th in nation

The competitive cheer team and the dance team competed at the Universal Cheerleaders Association National High School Cheerleading Championship and the Universal Dance Association National Dance Team Championship.

The USCHS dance team, which features 24 dancers, placed sixth out of 16 schools in the Large Varsity DII – Game Day category and 6th out of 14 teams in the Hip Hop category. Game Day is a three-minute performance that highlights school spirit within three components: the school's fight song, a sideline dance and a performance routine. Hip Hop is a two-minute routine. USC’s theme this year was Medusa.

The team is coached by Courtney Wregget along with assistant coaches Kaylea Gallagher and Grace Weidinger.

“It’s important to note that not everyone gets invited to Nationals,” Coach Wregget said. “You have to be given a bid to attend through competing at local and regional competitions or attending a camp.”

The USC Dance Team has been competing at Nationals on and off since the early 2000s and has been competing in Hip Hop since 2012. This marks the highest placement the dance program has had for Hip Hop.

“We were the only public school in both divisions that placed in the top 10,” Coach Wregget said. “The other schools we were against were either private, Catholic, or performing arts schools.”

In just its third year, the competitive cheer team made it all the way to finals for the first time ever – finishing sixth out of a field of 11 teams in Small Varsity Intermediate DII. The 15-member team is coached by Jabar Cancer along with assistant coaches Mistydae Junko and Kamryn Kostelnik.

“The team performed three routines and each routine had zero deductions, meaning they had no mistakes and hit zero, which is a huge accomplishment,” Coach Cancer said. 

The competitive cheer team is comprised of athletes from the varsity and junior varsity sideline cheerleading teams that cheer for football and basketball. To compete, cheerleaders must try out as the skills needed are more difficult and practices are more intense and demanding.

For more than 40 years, the National High School Cheerleading and National Dance Team championships have been the culmination of the season for teams across the nation and are among the most prestigious national championship competitions in the country.