Dayton Beach, Florida – Texas A&M International Cheer and Dance found success at the NCA and NDA National competition recently with cheer finishing sixth in the nation out of 18 teams in the intermediate small co-ed division II and dance taking eighth in hip hop and eighth in pom out of 19 total teams in the Division II Dance division. 

The competition is the largest for college spirit with over 30,000 athletes competing.
 
 "I am very proud of how both teams represented our university and community," head coach Michelle Rubio-Garcia said. "TAMIU definitely had people paying attention during performances and complimenting after competing. Cheer had not been at this competition since 2018, so they made a loud statement.  Assistant Coach Celina Flores did a great job in preparing the cheer team. Dance had double the competition this year, and, all things considered, did an incredible job at improving the rigor of our competition package. Both teams are hungry for more, and I know we'll come back bigger and better next year." 

This is the first time in program history that TAMIU has sent both its dance and cheer teams. 
 
"I want to thank TAMIU Athletics administration for trusting this year's coaching staff and student-athletes and allowing us to privilege to compete together," Rubio-Garcia said. "This is the biggest stage in the country, so having Dustdevil supporters means more than you know. It was great to see cheer support dance and vice-versa. It's this kind of energy and experience that will help bring back titles in the future. I am so fortunate to know that Athletics supports this new standard, as we aim to be the most exciting Division II spirit program in the country."