Lakers Claim National Title At NCA College National Championships

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – For the first time in program history, the Roosevelt cheerleading team won a national championship at the 2023 National Cheerleaders Association College National Championships on Friday in Daytona Beach, Florida.

The Lakers, who were making their debut in the Intermediate Small Coed NAIA division, started off the competition strong in the preliminaries with a performance that earned them top marks in the group. Although they received 1.25 points in deductions for their Thursday routine, the Lakers still scored a 90.8981 for the prelims to lead the competition heading into the finals.

In Friday's finals, Roosevelt did not receive any deductions and was graded a 95.0 for their performance, easily the best in the division. The Lakers finished with an event score of 93.9745, nearly nine full points better than second place to earn the first national championship in school history.

"I was proud of how we performed in the prelims even though we showed some of our nerves with a few uncharacteristic bobbles," Roosevelt cheerleading coach Bobby Rinaldi said. "You could tell it was our first time performing under the stage lighting, but you could see our determination and focus after that performance heading into the final. Our athletes were focused and determined to sweep the competition and bring home the national title, and I am so proud of what they were able to accomplish."

"It was a rocky start in the fall with the change in head coach," Roosevelt spirit coordinator Lindsay Jones added. "But when Bobby took the position, he brought with him a whole new energy to our program. With Bobby's experience as a collegiate national champion himself, he understood the work and process required to get this team to where they are today. I am proud of Bobby and his coaching staff and looking forward to what the future of Roosevelt cheerleading can be."

The Roosevelt dance team also performed in two divisions of the National Dance Alliance College National Championships and placed in the top-five in both the team performance and hip-hop categories. In the prelims of the NAIA team competition on Thursday, the Lakers were able to advance to the finals in fifth place with a score of 82.85, which put them less than five points off the leaders of the competition. Roosevelt was able to perform a slightly cleaner routine during the final Friday, but it had to settle for a fifth-place finish with a score of 83.45 less than two points behind third place and seven points back of the winner.

The team routine was a 2-minute, 15-second mixture of jazz, poms and hip hop styles that was choreographed by Jones, who also serves as the dance coach, along with assistant dance coach Erica Andrus. It was Roosevelt's first time competing in the team division after the program was created three years ago after the merger with Robert Morris.

"Jazz and Pom is not our strong suit, but our team really took on the challenge and put our name on the map for years to come," Jones said. "I am excited to see how we can build off this performance for next season."

Roosevelt took home third place in NAIA hip hop after advancing out of a tough preliminary Friday by less than 0.2 points. The Lakers scored an 84.9143 in the preliminaries, but a tougher judging panel made the finals challenging for every school competing. Only one finalist scored better in the finals than the prelims, and the Lakers finished third with a score of 83.9429, less than two points behind the winner.

It was the second year for the Lakers in hip-hop and they took a routine choreographed by guest choreographer Joseph Raya to the competition.

"We went into nationals this year with the goal of finishing in the top three, and we were able to accomplish that," Jones said. "I could not be prouder of this team and the hard work they put in throughout the year. Our theme this year was to 'Ride The Wave' and we really enjoyed the ride throughout our experience in Florida."