Published: April 14, 2008 08:48 am      

How do you spell national champion? T-V-C-C

Cardinal cheerleaders bring home ninth title

From the moment the Cardinals stepped in front of the judges Friday, they were ready to be national champs.

“I just knew when they walked onto the mat that they were ready to do it. You could see it on their faces,” said Trinity Valley Community College Cardinal cheerleading coach Lucy Strom.

After coming in second place Thursday in the preliminary round of national competition, the Cardinal cheerleaders came out on top in Friday’s final round.

The Cardinals earned a final score of 9.216, which was enough to pull ahead of second-place Weatherford College’s score of 9.085 and earn the Cardinals their ninth national title.

TVCC has taken the National Cheerleaders Association national title eight additional times, in 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1996, 2001, 2002 and 2005.

In the preliminary round on Thursday, the Cardinals took second place, falling to Corsicana’s Navarro College. Both teams advanced to Friday’s final round, this time with different results. Navarro took third place behind the Cardinals and Weatherford.

The Cardinals’ performance wasn’t perfect, said Strom, but the team’s quick thinking and charisma are what earned them the title.

“We dropped one stunt, but we had it back up in like two seconds,” said Strom. “Our tumbling and jumps and level of excitement were enough to more than make up for the small mistakes. All the other stuff we did in the routine really paid off.”

Strom said she’s proud of the team, but knew that her students had what it took to win.

“The talent we had on this team was enough to win. They went into this just mentally prepared to come home champions,” said Strom.

This year’s Cardinal team was made mostly of freshman, she added.

“We had 20 on the mat and only four of them had ever had college national competition experience,” said Strom.

This year’s competing group was made up of seven sophomores and 14 freshmen. Of the sophomores, three of the seven were alternates during last year’s competition.

“Most of the winning teams have thirteen or more returning students. It’s almost unheard of to do it with this few,” said Strom.

The group was interviewed by the Fox Sports Channel, which will air the competition in the coming weeks, said Strom.

“They were asking us about our winning tradition,” said Strom.

The Cardinals were scheduled to fly home Sunday.