Liberty Cheerleading earns Top 10 finish at nationals, Sparky takes 5th in mascot competition

 Liberty University’s cheerleading and mascot programs placed eighth and fifth, respectively, at the 2024 Universal Cheerleading Association (UCA) & Universal Dance Association (UDA) College National Championships, held in the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, Fla., Jan. 12-14.

The overall event included more than 300 total teams, with Liberty’s cheerleading and mascot teams competing in divisions fielding 20 teams and 10 teams, respectively. These divisional lineups provided Liberty’s teams with the opportunity to compete against some of the titans of collegiate sports.

Liberty Cheerleading, which competed in the Coed Division IA, earned its eighth-place finish with a score of 87, besting its 10th-place ranking in 2023.

“Getting eighth place is a huge milestone for us because we are going against (Power Five) schools like Ole Miss, Ohio State, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana State University, Alabama,” said Cheerleading Head Coach Nicholas Thomason, who noted that this is only the fifth year Liberty has entered this competitive division and the team was able to edge out schools like Tennessee, Ohio State, and the University of Cincinnati by several places this year. “From a Liberty Athletics standpoint, we are facing a lot of opponents that are household names. … That is a major accomplishment that we can find satisfaction in. That isn’t saying that the other programs aren’t good, but our team worked very hard to be that successful.”

Sparky, Liberty’s mascot and a member of the cheer team, recorded a score of 85.3 to earn fifth place in the Division IA mascot competition, up from ninth place last year. Although only 10 mascots competed in person, they were selected from a pool of 40 schools that submitted a qualifier video.

Liberty also entered a male and female duo into the Coed Stunt competition. Kevin Vu and Kelsey Crisman finished 13^th overall.

Thomason said he was proud of each team’s success, noting that the sport of cheerleading differs when it comes to competitions. While in football or basketball an athlete has multiple games to prove their skills, nationals is the one chance for cheer teams to evaluate themselves against the top competition in the country.

“When people see fifth place or eighth place, they automatically assume that’s not a big deal. But, looking at the people we placed in front of, it is a big deal,” he said. “(Cheerleading) is very much a game of inches. You make one mistake, and you can be out. You make one mistake, and you could drop a placement. You make one mistake and one of these other teams can jump ahead of you. So, it’s very difficult and it’s very strenuous.”

Judging for cheer competition relies on a variety of factors such as precision, difficulty of performance, and timing. In order to reach this level of perfection, student-athletes are often asked to sacrifice both their time and energy for the betterment of the team.

Despite existing as its own entity, Liberty Cheerleading serves primarily as a support system for Liberty’s other athletics programs. As a result, the team is required to not only prepare for its own competition, but also perform at Liberty sporting events such as football and basketball games.

“Our goal as cheerleaders is not to compete,” Thomason said. “Our goal is to be a support system for Liberty Athletics. So, we prioritize that. We attend all home and travel football games, all men’s and women’s basketball games, and then we focus on our national competition secondary. After every practice to prepare for a football or basketball game, that’s when we prepare (for nationals).”

In order to fulfill all of the team’s responsibilities and properly serve Liberty Athletics, student-athletes devote a significant amount of time to practice. This also means remaining on campus for large portions of Winter Break while other students head home. While this training regimen may be exhausting at times, it allows the team to reach its full potential.

“One of the things about this process is it really allowed the team to bond together,” Thomason said. “This team is like a family. They pushed through injury, sickness, being tired, being sore, everything you can name. When they got out there, they performed well. As a coach, all I can ever ask is that you go out there and you do your absolute best, and you go out there and give 100 percent.”

In addition to allowing the cheer team to measure up against rival universities, nationals also provided the team with the chance to live out Liberty’s mission of Training Champions for Christ.

“I tell them that when we get to go to an event like this, we are constantly setting an example,” Thomason said, noting that the team members held a worship service outside of their hotel rooms on Sunday morning. “We are called to spread the Gospel, but I tell them that it starts with small seeds. We’re not going to shove the Gospel down someone’s throat, but to spread small seeds through actions, how we react to circumstances and how we treat one another. … People are looking at you and understand that Liberty is a Christian school. People are seeing how we react to every situation and how we treat each other.”