The University’s spirit teams made an impressive showing in the 2007 United Cheerleading Association and Universal Dance Association national championships, with the cheerleading team bringing home a national title and the dance team a second-place finish.

Cheerleaders Amanda Cassarino, CHEP ’08, and Gregory Gilbert, CHS ’07, placed first in the coed partner stunt category, opening their performance with a series of stunts so difficult that it had the audience cheering throughout.

“Greg and I knew the competition was going to be close for first place, so when they announced second place and it wasn’t us, we fell to the floor overwhelmed with shock and excitement,” Cassarino says.

Stunt partners Julie Weiss, AS ’10, and Bill Mayo, a CHEP graduate student, came in ninth, and Gillian Guadagnino, AS ’09, and Seth Riblett, CHS ’08, finished 12th. The team came in second in Division 1 team competition.

Andy Brown, head cheerleading coach, says he is especially proud of his team because almost half are new members, requiring a lot of hard work. “This accomplishment reflects countless hours of practice and conditioning in and out of the gym,” he says.

UD’s dance team won second place in the Division 1 hip-hop category and took fourth place in Division 1 jazz.

“This proves that the University of Delaware Dance Team is one of the best overall and most versatile teams in the collegiate world today,” Nicole K. Daliessio-Zehnder, the team’s coach, says.

YoUDee came in seventh in the mascot competition. About 36 mascots entered the competition by submitting videos of their performances, and the top 10 were invited to perform at the championships, according to Sharon Harris, assistant director of public relations and UD’s mascot coordinator.

The United Cheerleading Association and Universal Dance Association’s competition is televised on ESPN and ESPN2 to more than 90 million homes each year. More than 22,000 cheerleaders and 5,500 dancers compete to get to the national competition.