2023 NAIA Competitive Cheer National Championship Recap - Day One

YPSILANTI, Mich. – Preliminary routines of the 7th Annual NAIA Competitive Cheer National Championship were held Friday evening inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center on the campus of Eastern Michigan. Day One scores count for 25% of the combined total, leaving the last 75% of the score to be calculated from Saturday’s Finals performances.

Prelims Performance Highlights

• Saint Ambrose (Iowa) is on pace to break the highest overall team score in nationals history with a leading preliminary score of 95.83 points. The Bees are looking to top last year’s record-breaking mark of 93.70 points set by Xavier (La.).
• Dickinson State (N.D.) took runner-up honors despite coming in exactly six points behind Saint Ambrose with 89.83 points.
• Two-time national champions (2017, 2021) Oklahoma City slotted in third (88.57) with two competitors close behind in site hosts Concordia (Mich.) with 88.52 points and Xavier (La.) with 88.05 points.
• Grand View (Iowa) made its NAIA nationals debut, the only team in the field to do so.
• Twelve of the 15 teams qualified for the 2022 National Championships, and five of the teams have qualified for all seven National Championships that have been held.
• St. Ambrose (Iowa), Dickinson State (N.D.), Oklahoma City, Missouri Valley and MidAmerica Nazarene did not receive any deductions.
• The teams will be back on the mat Saturday starting at 1:00 p.m. EST and will perform in reverse order. Squads with lowest prelim score will perform first while the top score out of the first round will be the final performance.

Finals Performance Order

1. Grand View (Iowa)

2. Mobile (Ala.)

3. Tennessee Southern

4. MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.)

5. Friends (Kan.)

6. Cumberlands (Ky.)

7. Indiana Wesleyan

8. Georgetown (Ky.)

9.  Midland (Neb.)

10. Missouri Valley

11. Xavier (La.)

12. Concordia (Mich.)

13. Oklahoma City

14. Dickinson State (N.D.)

15. St. Ambrose (Iowa)