Despite last minute injuries the McGill Redmen cheerleading squad managed to pull off a respectable showing at a National Cheerleaders Association's (NCA) U.S. Championship this Saturday in New York City. With a score of 6.63 out of a possible 11, McGill did not perform to the best of their abilities but returned as U.S. Champions as they were the only team in the level six category.
Co-captain and flyer Lauran Gibson suffered a broken ankle while attempting a gymnastics skill during a practice session. The modification that resulted introduced considerable instability to "stunts" where coordination and repetition are usually essential. Nevertheless, the routine proceeded fairly cleanly with only a few stunts failing to maintain themselves and no further injuries.
The NCA allows teams to register in levels from one to six based on age, difficulty and number of males per team. McGill competed in the level six category, the highest difficulty level, primarily on the basis of their stunting: "pyramids" that rose to two and a half person's height (or about four meters tall assuming each athlete is 1.6m tall) and fully extended "libs." As stunting is the strong point of McGill and many other Canadian teams, as opposed to the very gymnastics-oriented atmosphere of American cheerleading, McGill tends to compete in the highest level at American competitions.
The McGill Redmen compete as either an all-girl or co-ed team regionally, nationally and internationally. The McGill Redmen's most recent competitions were Canadian PCA nationals in Toronto where they placed fifth in the small all-girl category, and a Quebec invitational at Collège André-Grasset In Montreal where they finished third in the small university category.
2008 Woodie Awards
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