DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Davenport cheer team is coming home to Grand Rapids with another hardware as a score of 93.73 with very minimal deductions was more than enough to beat 11 other competitors in the finals to win the National Cheerleaders Association All-Girl Division III national championship for a third straight year Friday afternoon in Daytona Beach.
 
Montclair State University scored a 90.70 to finish second while Elmira College took the bronze with an 89.80.
 
Davenport was credited a 92.13 to finish first in the prelims Thursday that featured 21 schools. Elmira took second with a 90.48 followed by Montclair with an 87.95.
 
The Panthers score of 93.73 is the second best in the program's history in the championship. The 2013 version of Rachel Nemmers' team earned a 94.60 while last year's squad marked a 91.90.

What head coach Rachel Payne has to say: "This past season these 32 girls have worked hours upon hours to prepare for this week at college nationals. They put in countless full run throughs, one after the other. That is one thing that I felt confident in, the fact that the girls were prepared to do another full run through because it's what they are conditioned for. In fact, we tried to count at one point how many total full run throughs of the routine they've done and we ended up with over 400! The girls never give up, they are focused and determined to not stop until it's perfect.This team's focus and preparation was unlike anything that I have coached before. I'm proud to say this team put their best two performances all season on the Nationals mat and they peaked at the exact right moment."

What assistant coach Celia Woodfill had to say: "Not only is this competition mentally and physically draining, it's emotional as well. We push these girls to absolute max in practice so when we get here, all they have to do is 'one more run through. They had the performances of the season on the nationals' mats! Proud is an understatement!"

What assistant coach Katrina Wireman had to say: "We had some kinks to work out at practice, in order to execute on finals day. With this being the largest cheer competition in the world with over 300 teams competing, our girls had to remain focused and that was no easy task. This team has proven time after time that they are both physically and mentally strong, but getting through this week focused was a victory in itself and they did that without a blink of an eye."

 
Cheer/Dance Contact: David Gerhart | 616-554-5045 | dgerhart@davenport.edu
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