Awesome Eagle placed third in the Universal Cheerleaders Association’s annual mascot competition in Orlando, Fla., Jan. 13.
Awesome placed third out of 12 in the qualification round in November. The top five mascots were given the opportunity to compete.
“We may not have gotten first place, but it was our first year,” Drake Fenlon, freshman Spirit Squad member, said. “We had no idea what to expect. This year we were just testing the waters, and now we know what to do to bring home the gold for Tech next year.”
First place went to the University of Delaware’s YouDee. This is YouDee’s fourth win.
Second place went to newcomer Villanova University’s Will D. Cat.
The University of South Alabama’s SouthPaw, who placed second last year, came in fourth this year.
Arkansas State University’s Howl placed fifth in his first year to compete.
Each mascot performed a skit to try to win over the judges. The skit was judged based on crowd appeal and interaction, creativity, animation and enthusiasm, prop usage and the overall impression, according to UCA’s rulebook.
Each mascot had music playing in the background while interacting with props.
“We incorporated some themes to our skit like Old Spice,” Ben White, sophomore Spirit Squad member, said. “We even threw in some Justin Bieber and LMFAO.”
Other themes included “Jersey Shore”, Apple’s Siri and songs containing the word “awesome.”
Awesome’s main prop was a giant iPhone with his silhouette in place of the Apple logo. The iPhone was placed in a purple and gold iHome.
“We physically made the props from the beginning of Christmas break until five minutes before we went on to get everything exactly working how we wanted it,” Fenlon said. “Making a 6-foot-tall iPhone with multiple screens wasn’t exactly easy.”
Jordan Allen, senior Spirit Squad member said, “We saw how props can be made in different ways, and we talked to other mascots about their programs and how they differ. We went to nationals not knowing what to expect, but next year we will definitely be ready to bring it even harder.”
White said, “We looked to going to nationals as, as long as we get higher than our score from last year, which we definitely did, then we’ve won in our minds.”
All of the mascot routines are on UCA’s website. Go to uca.varsity.com and click on 2012 College Cheerleading & Dance National Championship Coverage & Results, then click on the mascot tab.
