SOUTHEAST CHEERLEADING SQUAD EARNS RANK AS 11TH IN NATION

The cheerleaders from Southeast Missouri State University are ranked 11th in the nation following the 1993 National Cheerleading Association's Cheerleading National Championship in Dallas, Texas, this week.

"We are thrilled with our standing," said Melanie Moore, cheerleading coach and promotions coordinator for athletics at Southeast. "It was really a great experience and the squad did a fantastic job.

"In attending, we were hoping to start a new name for Southeast by performing well and earning recognition and respect among other schools."

The squad competed in the first round Tuesday, said Ron Hines, Southeast's sports information director. The finals were held at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The finals were taped by ESPN and will be televised at a later date, he said.

"We took 11th in the preliminaries." Moore said. "We were one away from advancing to the finals and to the trophies."

Moore said most of the schools that Southeast faced had professional choreographers to aid with their performance. "We had six weeks to prepare for the competition and I think we did a fine job."

With the competition, the squad gave up much of their Christmas break, Moore said, as they prepared for the competition.

"The entire squad was committed to staying over the break to pull this off," Moore said.

She said the past few days in Dallas were very stressful. "We had to remember what we're there for and that is to keep up the good name of Southeast and to make our school proud of us," Moore said.

It was an honor for the cheerleaders to be selected and to be one of the elite chosen to participate in the competition, said Hines.

To participate, a squad had to submit a video tape or receive an invitation to compete, Moore said. This year Southeast's squad was unable to attend camp so they submitted a video tape, she said.

"We submitted a 2 to 3 minute routine which contained dance, partner stunts, pyramids, gymnastics all put together," Moore said. Based on the tape,,the squad was placed in Division I for competition.

"We competed against at least 80 other squads in Dallas," Moore said. "In addition, we competed against all those who had submitted videos to be judged," she said.

"It was been incredible to watch the other squads do their stunts and perform their pyramids," Moore said. Every year the difficulty level is higher, she said.

Moore said, "Since we have been here it has overwhelmed me and I have been very impressed with the difficulty of the routines we have seen.

"My squad also overwhelmed me with their fantastic performance."

Southeast has been asked in the past to attend the national championship, but this was the first time a squad has actually competed in nationals.

Moore said the entire squad was able to participate. "In spite of an injury to a senior member and illnesses, we were able to get so close to the finals.

"But, I wasn't really expecting to make the finals with the schools we were competing against."