The 2024 UDA College Nationals wrapped up on Sunday, Jan. 14, and a local team brought home the gold in not one, but two categories.
The annual college dance competition was held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex inside Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, on Jan. 12-14. The event welcomed over 300 universities from 48 states, including Columbus’s very own Ohio State University dance team.
Teams can compete in categories such as hip hop, jazz, pom, game day and spirit for a national title to take back home to their campus. Competition seems to get tougher every year, especially in the DIA jazz and pom categories.
With 15 teams crowned National Champions, here are some of the highlights from the competition:
The Division IA hip hop title went to Louisiana State University with their Michael Jackson themed routine, followed by University of Nevada in second place and University of Memphis in third.
Ohio State University took home the win for the Division IA jazz category with a powerful routine to “My Way” by Frank Sinatra. In a close second was the University of Minnesota Spirit Squad with their 20-year celebration of their 2004 routine to “Dream On” by Aerosmith. Louisiana State University followed in third place.
Minnesota and Ohio State switched places for the DIA pom category, with Minnesota outscoring Ohio State 98.4762 points to 97.7143 points. Pennsylvania State University University Park earned the third place title.
The Division I hip hop national title was snatched by University of Delaware, followed by Utah Valley University and St. John’s University.
Cal State University Fullerton earned the Division I jazz title. Hofstra University followed closely behind for the runner-up title and Utah Valley University came in third.
Hofstra University was able to come out on top for the Division I pom competition with a 1.3809 point win over UC Santa Barbara. Cal State University Fullerton was exactly one point behind the second place team.
The open hip hip category was dominated by Northwest Community College, with over a three point lead. West Chester University and University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire won second and third place, respectively.
Minnesota State University-Mankato became a national champion with their win in the open jazz category, followed by the second place team University of Minnesota-Duluth and the third place team Orange Coast College.
Minnesota State University-Mankato took home their second title of the weekend in the open pom competition. Endicott College and University of Minnesota-Duluth followed.
The Division IA game day category was won by University of Memphis, followed by another Ohio native team, the University of Cincinnati. Third place went home with the University of Kentucky.
Southeastern Louisiana University took first place in Division I game day. Only 0.1834 of a point separated the second place team, University of Nebraska Omaha, and the third place team, Hofstra University.
The open game day title went home with Endicott College, followed by two universities who had already secured a national title this weekend: Minnesota State University-Mankato and Northwest Community College.
Ohio State took home their second and final title of the weekend with their win in the spirit program category. University of Mississippi and University of Oklahoma were awarded second and third place.
The open spirit program game day award went to Long Island University, closely followed by St. John’s University and University of Puerto Rico.
Wrapping up the weekend, Grand Canyon University won over Wake Forest University in the game day live category.
Here’s to another successful year of college dance.
