2016 UCA/UDA National Championship Central
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico spirit program will be heading to the 2016 UCA and UDA College National Cheer and Dance Championships being held this weekend, Jan. 15-17, in Orlando, Fla. Nationals will feature college and universities from across the country. UNM cheerleaders will compete in the Small Coed Division, Large Coed Division (Division IA) and the dance competition.
This will be the second year in a row that the spirit program will take three programs and head coach Kelly Grice is excited about it.
“I am really proud that we are taking three teams to nationals again this year,” said Grice. “We are all excited for this weekend and we look forward to see what our teams will do.”
The Small Coed Cheer squad will be the first to compete over the weekend as it will begin with the Small Coed Division I Semi Finals on Saturday at 7:03 a.m. MT. The dance team will be the second UNM squad to compete. They will perform in the Division IA Jazz Semi-Finals at 11:06 a.m. MT. The Large Coed team will compete in the Division IA Semi-Finals at 4:45 p.m. MT. Click here for the full list of events.
A live stream will be available for UNM Spirit fans to watch over the course of the weekend. Click here to watch.
The Spirit program currently has over 70 student-athletes, which is made up of Small Coed, Large Coed, Lobo Dance Team and Lobo Louie and Lobo Lucy. The Spirit programs puts in many hours over the course of the year with practice, UNM games, as well as getting ready for national competitions. They also put in many hours in community service, collecting over 1,500 every year.