ALFRED, NY -- The Alfred University cheerleading team made history with hosting its first ever cheerleading and dance competition last Sunday. Not only did they make history with hosting the event, but made history by defeating perennial cheerleading powerhouses, Elmira College and Gannon University in the Women's College All-Girl Intermediate category. Below are thoughts from Head Coach, Dr. Amy Button-Ervin:

St. Patrick's Day now has a new meaning for AU Cheer. Rather than focus on green beverages and corned beef, our team made AU history in multiple ways. We successfully hosted our first home competition and the energy from our students and fans during our performance was something that I don't think the cheer team will forget. What a fun experience for us all. Since Sunday, we've all received so many compliments and remarks related to better understanding cheer after watching a competition for the first time. We also got to recognize publicly, seniors Chloe Fox (Cohocton, NY/Wayland-Cohocton) and Hannah Wiatrowski (Bolivar, NY/Bolivar-Richburg), something we haven't been able to do since we became a varsity sport. They certainly deserved that recognition and spotlight given their commitment and support for the team over the past four years. I'm so appreciative for everyone that took the time out of their Sunday to come watch in person or on the live stream. We felt their presence.
 
We had the largest category of teams for this competition, going up against Elmira and Gannon again for a second week in the row, while also adding Molloy to the mix. The scores were especially close; without deductions being factored in for our opponents, we beat Gannon by less than one point, but our own zero-deduction routine earned us the first place trophy. It was a truly historical moment for us all. Later that evening, I reminded the team of the following quote that I'd shared in prior seasons that is just so true of cheer in general and for our team, "The judges don't see what we do in practice. They don't know that you just got that skill last week or your stunt group changed five times. All they see is one routine. This competition is not about the team that is slightly better most of the time. It's about who can go out and give 110% into one full out and hit it." On Sunday, that was us. The Alfred University cheerleaders put everything they had in them on that mat and even competing against strong teams, they hit every stunt and skill, and they earned that win.
 
We will see Gannon again at our next competition on March 30^th at RIT and Elmira at Nationals, and we know that they will be ready to battle. As I'm sure they are too, we are continuing to perfect our skills and are upgrading our routine one step at a time. It'll be fun to see how this season continues for the next few weeks. I have the utmost confidence that we will continue to stay in the fight. This team has grit, determination and passion and have overcome so many roadblocks already. I have no doubt they'll continue to impress me and will surely put Alfred University cheer on the map for the future generations of our program.