Last Friday, Erin Kennedy ’07 was on her way home and nearly got into an accident on I-95 when she heard the exciting news from Jen DeNapoli ’06.
The College Cheerleading and Dance Team National Championship’s website had posted the results of the entry tapes sent in by universities across the country. It ranked the Fairfield dance team fourteenth, which qualified them to skip the preliminary round and go directly to the semi-final round of the competition.
Danielle Smith ’07 said she had the same initial reaction when she received her phone call from DeNapoli, who is a co-captain of the dance team.
“I was also driving when I heard the news and almost got into a car accident,” said Smith. “I couldn’t stop screaming because I was so excited.”
Smith was in such disbelief that she initially thought DeNapoli was lying to her.
“The news was more than a shock,” Smith said. “We had only two weeks to prepare a dance that most had been working on since summer.”
Kennedy agreed.
“I honestly never expected to make the semi-finals on our first attempt ever at nationals,” she said.
The news has hyped the team’s spirit and morale, according to Kennedy.
“It’s such a great feeling of accomplishment,” Kennedy said. “I think it allows us to go down to Florida with our heads held high, knowing we really have a chance of accomplishing something great.”
To raise money, the team sold raffle tickets for gift certificates to local businesses but hasn’t stopped there. The dancers plan to continue their fundraising efforts for the trip to nationals by making and selling Fairfield t-shirts and host an intense workout and dance session for all students, according to Haraksin.
In addition to preparing for the competition, the team has been working on three half time routines as well as two time-out routines for Fairfield basketball games, according to Alicia Haraksin ’06, who is DeNapoli’s co-captain of the dance team.
Practices are even harder now and there are no complaints from dancers, according to Kennedy.
“We get excited to push ourselves to the limit now because we know what the outcome can be,” she said.
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