(Ann Arbor, Mich.) The Concordia cheer team began their post-season competition on Saturday afternoon at the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) Competitive Cheer Championship. Six WHAC teams met at the Cardinal Field House for the championship event. The Cardinals posted two strong performances to take first place overall and earn their third straight WHAC championship. The Cardinals also secured their spot at the NAIA Competitive Cheer National Championship as the WHAC championship served as an automatic qualifier for the NAIA.
Head Coach Kate Edge was named WHAC Coach of the Year for the third consecutive year and freshman standout Asia Ussery was named the WHAC Cheerleader of the Year and Newcomer of the Year.
Coach Edge credited the team's solid week of practice for solid performances. "It was a really great week of practice heading into conference," said Edge. "They wanted to execute and bring their fire to the performance. I think that fight and drive is what helped put them on top of a very talented and very tough conference. The WHAC is a very strong competitive cheer conference."
The Cardinals recorded a 89.83 subtotal before .50 in deductions brought the preliminary score to 89.33. Cardinals held the top spot in the preliminary round by a narrow margin. Lourdes was at 87.30 with Aquinas in third with an 85.70. The Cardinals saved the best for last post a clean performance in the final round. The scoring system takes 25% of your preliminary score and 75% of the final round which had the Cardinals at 89.68. Lourdes finished in second at 87.12 followed by Aquinas 86.58.
The WHAC announced their all-conference awards at the event and a plethora of Cardinals were recognized. Leading the way for the Cardinals was Asia Ussery being named WHAC Cheerleader of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, and first team all-conference. This was the second year in a row the Cardinals have had the Cheerleader of the Year recipient as Morgan Raby won it last year. Other first team all conference members included; Hannah Huhn, Laney Roberts, Hannah Rumsey, Danyelle Beckesh, and Fred Watts. Zoe Genette was named second team all-conference.
The WHAC honors athletes through the All-Academic team for those student-athletes of junior academic status having atleast a 3.25 cumulative GPA. Qualifying for the Cardinals this season were; Brooke Armstrong, Brianna Clopton, Alexandria Hall, Hannah Huhn, Kayla Markle, Laney Roberts, Hannah Rumsey, and Janae Turner.
The WHAC prioritizes the NAIA's core values of respect, integrity, responsibility, sportsmanship, and servant leadership. In celebration of these core values the WHAC honors representatives from each sport that epitomize these core values and their respective institutions. Hannah Huhn was named Concordia's recipient of the Champions of Character.
The Cardinals will now shift their focus to the NAIA Competitive Cheer National Championship. The event will be held on March 12th and 13th on the campus of St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa. Championship event information and details will be available later this week.
