By Giulia Gutzwiller, Arts and Entertainment Editor

The Universal Cheer Association (UCA) and the Universal Dance Association (UDA) held their annual College Nationals in Orlando, Fla. last weekend. During the event, cheer and dance squads from colleges across the country competed in a variety of categories for a spot in the national rankings.

The main three UCA and UDA divisions are D1A, D1 and Open, with D1A being the highest difficulty and Open being the lowest. Some of the UCA categories include Traditional Cheer, All-Girl, Co-Ed and Game Day, while the UDA categories consist of Game Day, Hip Hop, Jazz and Pom. 

The D1A Traditional Cheer category contains some of the strongest cheerleading programs in the country. This year, University of South Florida (USF) placed first in the division, cementing themselves as fierce competitors. Second and third place went to University of Central Florida and University of Kentucky, respectively. 

University of Alabama emerged as the National Champions in the D1A All-Girl category for the eighth time in program history. In the D1A Small Co-Ed category, University of Memphis won the national title. 

The University of Cincinnati (UC) Bearcat, who secured the national title in the mascot competition last year, fell to Ohio State’s Brutus Buckeye. Additionally, UC’s cheer and dance teams scored high in their respective categories. UC cheer placed ninth in the D1A Traditional Cheer category, while UC dance placed fourth in D1A Pom, fourth in D1A Game Day and third in D1A Hip Hop. 

University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) placed first and Louisiana State University (LSU) placed second in the D1A Hip Hop category. One highlight of the competition was LSU dancing to the Kendrick Lamar mashup from last year’s Super Bowl and including choreography reminiscent of their classic “Like A Boy” routine from 2022. 

“I really enjoyed watching LSU’s hip hop. They were definitely one of my favorites, and they definitely were trying to make a comeback this year, which I felt that they did,” Xavier dance team treasurer and sophomore psychology major Alyssa Cadwell said. 

In the D1A Pom category, University of Minnesota came out on top as back-to-back champions. Texas Tech came in second with a technically advanced performance with a full team standing back tuck and Ohio State placed third with a technology themed routine. 

The Jazz category at UDA is where art meets passion. Ohio State may have won the division for the second year in a row, but there are many other dance squads who took their creativity to new heights this year. San Diego State University delivered an upbeat performance to “Conga” while wearing bright neon bodysuits, and LSU did an energetic routine to Britney Spears’ “Oops!… I did It Again” in a category where more intense and emotional dances are the standard. 

UCA and UDA Nationals performances have garnered significant attention across social media platforms in recent years, such as Ohio State’s jazz routine to Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” from 2024 and Minnesota’s hard-hitting pom routine from 2025 that went on to compete at the World Championships. Now more than ever, cheerleaders and dancers are receiving widespread recognition for their talent.

“One thing I realized this year is that many of the teams were able to cheer on one another, and I feel like that’s why Nationals is becoming such a huge thing,” Cadwell said.