ORLANDO—The University of Hawai`i cheer squad advanced into the Universal Cheerleaders Association National Championship after finishing in fifth place in the semifinals on Saturday at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla.
 
Hawai`i was scored high in the music portion of the judging, but faltered slightly in some of the stunts during the routine. The top fifteen teams advanced to the Championships that will be held on Sunday starting at 6:00 pm. Following the completion of the semifinals, the 'Bows drew to determine the order of performance for the finals. UH will be the 13th team to go on stage.
 
“We are very happy with where we are in the order tomorrow,” says head coach Mike Baker. “Our practices have been going great and the team has been hitting the routine with confidence. But we still have room to improve from today's performance. The squad is really excited to be in the championship round.”
 
“In years past, our team has bypassed the semifinals and advanced straight into the championships because of their high ratings on our video skills submission video tapes. But this year, all teams had to perform in the semifinals, so we feel we are lucky because we've gone out and performed out on the stage in front of the crowd once already and have gotten all the jitters out. Tomorrow, we are just excited to perform and compete for the national championship,” says Baker.
 
The competition can be viewed on UCA's live-streaming website (click here) for a small fee. The championship will also be filmed and televised on ESPN in February.
 
Teams Advancing to 2012 UCA Cheer IA Championship
Florida State University
Louisiana State University
Mississippi State University
Ohio State University
UCF
University of Alabama
University of Cincinnati
University of Hawaii
University of Kansas
University of Kentucky
University of Memphis
University of Minnesota
University of Mississippi
University of Tennessee
Western Kentucky University 

(teams listed in alphabetical order, not order of semifinal finish)