(Sylvania, OH) The Concordia cheer team began their post-season competition on Saturday afternoon at the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) Competitive Cheer Championship. Eight WHAC teams met at the Lourdes University for the championship event. The Cardinals posted two strong performances to take first place overall and earn their fourth 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 fourth consecutive year and Bianca Hrynciw was named WHAC Newcomer of the Year. Concordia also had 8 cheerleaders make the All-Conference First Team.
Coach Edge credited each athlete's focus and determination. "They delivered back to back strong performances. We're so proud of the passion and drive they demonstrated on the mat this weekend."
The Cardinals recorded a subtotal of 85.62 in the preliminary round before 0.75 points of deductions brought the score down to 84.87. That gave Concordia over a four-point lead over second place Lourdes going in to the final round, which is weighted more heavily in the final score for the event. The scoring system takes 25% of your preliminary score and 75% of the final round.
Concordia improved upon their preliminary score and earned their highest score of the season with an 86.87 in the final round which brought their total to 86.37 on the day. Behind the Cardinals in second place was Lourdes with 78.67 and Rochester in third with 78.45.
The WHAC announced their all-conference awards at the event and the Cardinals took home 8 of the 11 First Team selections. WHAC Newcomer of the year Bianca Hrynciw was joined by Brooke Armstrong, Danielle Beckesh, Zoe Genette, Hailey Payne, Laney Roberts, Hannah Rumsey, and Marisela Vazquez. Beckesh, Roberts, and Rumsey are all repeat First Teamers while Genette earned Second Team last season.
The WHAC honors athletes through the All-Academic team for those student-athletes of junior academic status having at least a 3.25 cumulative GPA. Qualifying for the Cardinals this season were; Brooke Armstrong, Tara Cicilian, Makayla LaVere, Kayla Markle, Ellisa Peterson, Alexandra Premo, Laney Roberts, and Hannah Rumsey.
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. Alexandra Premo 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 11th and 12th at Eastern Michigan's George Gervin GameAbove Center in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
