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CHEER 1 FROM PAGE
the dancers on the competition team, she was required to attend a third practice every Sunday evening. According to the UND Athletics website, the dance team usually maintains about 12 to 20 members — all of whom are female. Of those members, nearly three-fourths also dance in competitions throughout the year, while the rest only perform at home games. The dance team has traveled to away games in the past, but did not do so this year because it needed more time to prepare for competition. Wald and her team have danced in South Dakota and Texas in previous years. Most routines performed at games are considered “fan dances,” which means they are performed on the sidelines during timeouts as a way to pump up the fans. The team often performs a longer routine during halftime and dance with the cheer team to UND’s fight song, “Stand Up and Cheer,” at the beginning of every game. The routines performed during halftime are often similar to or the same ones performed in com-
petitions. The dance team travels to about six competitions every year, including the Universal Dance Association's national competition in Orlando, Fla. Due to the intensity of these competitions, tryouts for UND’s dance team are very competitive and current dancers hoping to return the following year are not guaranteed a spot on the team. “A lot of returners don't make it,” Wald said. Tryouts are coming up very soon — on the weekend of April 12. They are especially nerve-wracking for the younger dancers such as freshman Angie Wokasch. Once tryouts are over and the results are posted, the first practice begins the next morning so the new team can get to know each other. Outside of dance-related events, they end up spending a lot of time hanging out together. “We were lucky last year because the team got along very well and many of us are best friends,” Wokasch said. “When you’re with the same people that much, it makes it easy to bond.” This positive atmosphere is very similar on UND’s cheerleading teams.
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The compitition dance team at the Universal Dance Association’s national competition in Orlando, Fla. Photo submitted.
“The cheer team is like a family,” football and basketball cheerleader Nicole Gourneau said. “We all love and support each other with very minimal drama. I have made so many friendships that will last a lifetime.” According to hockey cheerleader Kaylar Neumann, the worst she’s ever seen is typical morning tiredness but the coaches are great at getting everyone motivated. Hockey cheer practices take place three times a week. There are two morning practices on the ice from 6:30 to 7:30 a.m. and one practice on dry land from 7 to 8 p.m. “Dry land practice is where we need the most work,” Neumann said. “We’re more like figure skaters
than cheerleaders.” Neumann had never been a cheerleader before coming to UND, but she’s been figure skating for 16 years. She’s a junior majoring in communication and just finished her second year on the hockey cheer team. Hockey season is Neumann’s busiest time of the year because on top of cheer, Neumann also interns as a news reporter at Studio One and is a member of Alpha Phi sorority. During hockey season, the cheer team arrives two hours early to every home game to practice on the ice and go over their land routines. It never travels to away games except during the postseason, as it did recently with the Pride of the North band for the Final Five tournament.
“We look forward to traveling for postseason every year; although some of the opposing teams can be scary, especially in the Cities where there are a lot of Gopher fans,” Neumann said. The hockey cheer team is all-female but the football and basketball cheer team has a few male members. “I love being a part of something that's so great on our campus and that I get to keep doing what I love, which is figure skating,” said Neumann. “I’m so glad I don't have to give it up yet.”
Jaye Millspaugh is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. She can be reached at jaye.millspaugh.2 @my.und.edu