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In January, the Villanova team that is always rooting for the victory of the other campus teams had a victory of its own. The University cheerleading team, lead by captains Kristen Angelastro ’04 and Adam McLaughlin ’04 and head coach Phil O’Neil, traveled to Orlando, Fla. to compete in the UCA National College Cheerleading Championships. At the completion of the competition the Villanova cheerleaders finished in 2nd place.

The Villanova team competes in a division called small co-ed for Division 1. In order to qualify for the nationals, the team had to prepare a qualifying tape, which was judged in several different areas. In crowd interaction the Wildcats earned a perfect 15 points for their relations with the crowds at Villanova basketball and football games as well as at community activities.

Villanova’s squad of 12 females and four males performed a two minute, twenty-second routine at the national championship in Disney World. The cheerleading team, who began preparation for this year’s nationals in October, achieved the highest finish ever for the Wildcats. In addition, this year marked the 10th straight year that Villanova’s cheerleaders placed in the top 10.

Previously, their best finish was a fourth place spot in 1997. However, according to team captain Kristen Angelastro ’04, “It doesn’t matter what had happened in the past or what will happen after the competition, all that matters is that day and where you are at that moment. All we could ask for was not first, but to do the best that we could do…We did the best that we could and we were proud of it.”