RIVER FOREST, ILL. – As the 2023-24 academic comes to a close so does the Concordia University Chicago (CUC) cheer season. In the first year under the direction of new Head Coach Cheetah Farrar, the Cougars soared to new heights including a first time appearance at the national level.
 
Season Recap
Concordia Invitational Tournament (CIT)
The Cougars saw their first competition of the season in January at the 71^st Annual CIT. Despite being the 71^st CIT, this would be only the fifth annual cheer competition, where the Cougars would place third. The Cougars picked up a final score of 56.20 in the competition, putting them 7.37 points above the host Falcons of Concordia University Wisconsin. This would be the second consecutive year the Cougars placed third.

"Competing at CIT definitely builds confidence in the team's performance," Coach Farrar had to say. "Performing in front of large crowds helps to get the team prepared to compete at the national level in front of hundreds of spectators."
 
National Cheerleading Association (NCA) Nationals
For the first time in program history, the CUC Cheer team made the trip to the NCA Championships in Daytona Beach, Florida. The Cougars received their bid in the Advanced All-Girl Division III division due to their higher skilled based basket tosses, longer and more demanding routines, advanced jump sequences with spot on precision and synchronization, and advanced partner stunting skills.

Day One at Nationals
The Cougars secured a performance score of 79.1 where they were the lone team in the division to complete the routine with no deductions. This score led CUC to be ranked fourth moving into day two while excelling in jumps on day one.

Day Two at Nationals
The squad started the day with 25% of their day one score as their base. With a starting score of 19.78, they went on to earn a performance score of 80.07 with an increased score in overall execution in stunting and pyramid. After averaging the scores from prelims and finals, the Cougars ended the day with a final score of 79.83. Most notably, the Cougars hit zero again on day two and became one of two teams out of the 94 advanced-division teams to perform both days with zero deductions. With this incredible feat, the Cougars secured third place in their first appearance at NCA Nationals.

"Hitting zero means that we performed our routine with no mistakes," Farrar said. "Cheer is sport that is not just compromised of individual skills, but skills that are dependent on more than one person to make it work. Stunts and pyramids rely on the team working as a unit and one wrong step or missed position can cause a stunt to fall or a pyramid to collapse. The way our CUC Cougars were able to maintain strong structures throughout and HIT their tumbling and stunts two days in a row is a big accomplished that deserves to be celebrated! It is rare that a team will have 0 mistakes at all, let alone two performances back-to-back!"
 
The Cougars return in the fall to continue their routines at Cougar Football and Basketball games before diving into competition season again next spring. "Next season I want to expose CUC to more opportunities to compete throughout the season," Farrar said. "I feel this will help elevate the level of competitiveness of the program."
 
Highlights
 
 
Offseason coverage and content can be found at cucougars.com or on Instagram @CUCCheer or X @CUCDanceCheer.