NEWPORT NEWS — Looking for a competition to take her squad to after a previously-attended competition folded, Christopher Newport University head cheerleading coach Erica Flanigan landed on the NCA College Nationals.
NCA and NDA College Nationals are known to cheerleaders and dancers as the sole competition for collegiate-level teams. The Captains performed for the first time at the Daytona Beach competition in 2024.
“When you come into college as a cheerleader, that’s the end-all, be-all to go to that competition. It is the one chance for them. That is so hard because in most sports, you have a ton of games, so maybe you have an off day. You can make up for that bad day by winning your conference or making the NCAA tournament. However, in college cheerleading, you only have this one chance, so our whole season leads up to the competition in Daytona Beach,” Flanigan explained.
The two-day competition sees a combination of two performances over two days. The two performance scores are then averaged. Depending on deductions, each team receives a score sheet after day one that determines their place in the division.
After day one of the 2024 competition, Flanigan was ecstatic to see her girls were in first place.
“After day one and having hit a beautiful routine, we were on cloud nine. Later that night, when we got the score sheet for the 19 teams in our division and we were in first place, that was just mind-blowing. I knew our team was great, I knew we had worked hard, I knew our routine hit the score sheet really well, but it was so exciting to see it on paper,” Flanigan recalls.
Heading into day two, Flanigan knew her team would have nerves, especially knowing they were in first place after one routine. She spoke to the girls about just hitting the routine cleanly and did her best to keep their energy up despite her own nerves.
“As a coach, when you are watching a routine on the competition floor, I’m literally not sitting there and watching it to enjoy it. I’m looking at every skill, I’m looking at every tumble pass, Does anybody touch down? I’m looking for deductions, I’m looking for stunt problems, I’m literally just scanning for issues. As they are going through the routine on day two, they get through the first stunt section and they hit it, they get to the next stunt section and they hit that, they hit baskets, they hit their tumbling, and I’m just going ‘oh my god, they hit that, oh my god.’ They hit their pyramid and I’m crying, screaming, and at that point, it’s a mathematical game. Essentially, I felt pretty confident that when they hit that last part of the pyramid, that we may have just won NCA College Nationals,” Flanigan says.
Tradition at NCA College Nationals is a big deal. As each team is crowned a national champion, they run into the ocean at Daytona Beach with their trophy and banner. While it was very late when the Intermediate All Girls Division III winner was announced, the CNU team had their opportunity to run into the ocean after their first-ever win. They came home to Newport News as the Intermediate All Girls Division III national champions.
Flanigan, who has been at the helm of the cheer program for almost 20 years, has seen the program grow substantially.
“Our program has changed dramatically. We’ve grown tremendously, we have a super large team now. When I had first started, we had a good-sized team but it was more of what you would consider a regular-sized team. Through the years, our team dynamics, the way that our kids love the team, they have shared that so much that we have generated so much more interest in the program, especially in the state of Virginia. CNU is now a school that cheerleaders look at for a post-high school cheer career. I think we’re one of the best DIII programs in the country,” Flanigan said.
In just two short weeks, the team will head back to Daytona Beach as the defending champions and practices are in full swing. In addition to practices, Flanigan has been talking to the cheerleaders about the added pressure they may feel this year as defending champs.
“I think this year, we kind of have another piece, another dynamic with winning last year. There are a lot of girls on the team from last year who had that experience winning that want it again. I’ve told them to be super humble and to focus on ourselves and the skills that we have. At the end of the day, we can’t do anything else but control what we do on the mat,” Flanigan said.
On April 6, the public is invited to a Christopher Newport University Cheerleading and Dance Showcase. The free showcase is the first time anyone will see both the cheer and dance team routines ahead of their departure for the national championship competition. Doors will open at The Freeman Center at 3:30 p.m. for a 4 p.m. show.
Once the team heads to Daytona Beach, the girls will be updating the CNU Cheerleading Instagram with behind-the-scenes content and scores as they come in. Follow them here.