ORLANDO, Fla. — Tennessee cheerleading is taking home some gold hardware after winning the UCA Division IA Game Day National Championship for the third time in school history.
On Friday, the team competed twice inside the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex located in Orlando. After Tennessee's semi-final performance, the team advanced to finals and was sitting in second place with a one-point deduction behind a South Florida team with zero points taken off.
The Vols knew they would take home gold medals if they could hit zero in their final performance. And that they did.
In that last performance, the Vols secured the national win with an almost perfect raw score of 98.4667, scoring nearly two points higher than their semi-final routine. The Bulls finished in second place, not far behind, with a 98.4667. Tennessee also beat highly competitive DIA teams, including the University of Central Florida, Minnesota, and Memphis, all placing in that order.
In the 2020 season, the team claimed its first national championship in the Game Day division. Their most recent title came from the 2021 season, where they placed first in the same category in back-to-back years.
Last year, Tennessee lost to South Florida by less than a point. The Bulls took home the championship with a score of 96.7667. Point five separated the two teams when UT finished with a 96.2333, so this comeback win likely meant a little more to this 2024 team.
Tennessee competes on Saturday in the prestigious Division 1A Co-Ed division. If the Vols score well, they can advance to finals on Sunday. The team has placed as high as second in this category in previous years and has made finals 22 of the past 24 years.
