SEWARD, Neb. – A thrilling month of January for Concordia University Nebraska Competitive Dance was capped on Saturday (Jan. 28) with the Bulldogs hoisting a trophy. For the first time in program history, CUNE captured first place at the Concordia Invitational Tournament dance competition. The Bulldogs won the 2023 event with a score of 60.05, outperforming the visiting Concordias of Ann Arbor, Chicago and Wisconsin in action that took place inside Friedrich Arena.
2023 CIT Dance Scores
NOTE – The NAIA scoring rubric is not applicable to CIT. The maximum points possible for the CIT dance competition was 70.
CUNE – 60.05
CUC – 55.87
CUAA – 52.52
CUW – 47.75
This marked the fourth year that CIT has included cheer and dance competitions. Head Coach Mandi Maser’s Bulldog dance team has beat out all other opponents it has gone head-to-head with in 2023.
“We’re super proud that it turned out to be a wonderful event,” Maser said. “Cheer and dance came out and represented Concordia Nebraska well. We had a great crowd and a lot of energy this morning. We’re so proud of the dancers. We’ve brought home the trophy for the very first time. We came out strong and outperformed the other teams. We’ve got great momentum going into the competition next week.”
Things keep getting better for the Bulldogs, who entered the weekend ranked in the top five nationally in terms of average competition score. In the four years of the CIT dance competition, three different Concordias have emerged as the winner. CUW won in 2018 and 2020 while CUAA took the title in 2019. In this year’s event, CUNE was followed by CUC, CUAA and CUW, in that order.
Maser put a familiar seven Bulldogs on the dance floor for CIT. The competition roster is listed below.
Concordia competition roster
· Aubrey Baumann (Chester, S.D.)
· Katie Birtell (Columbus, Neb.)
· Ryleigh Flesner (Greeley, Colo.)
· Taylor Larsen (Ravenna, Neb.)
· Avery Lewis (Seward, Neb.)
· Elise O’Neill (North Platte, Neb.)
· Maddie Wittstruck (Milford, Neb.)
All-time CIT dance champions
2023 – CUNE
2020 – CUW
2019 – CUAA
2018 – CUW
2023 Competition Scores
1/11 – 80.55 (dual vs. College of Saint Mary)
1/19 – 85.9 (dual vs. Morningside)
1/25 – 83.1 (triangular vs. Hastings/Mount Marty)
Coming up next is the Doane University Dance & Cheer Invite next Friday (Feb. 3). Doane’s Haddix Center will also be the site of the GPAC Championships later in February. Also on the horizon is the Concordia Duals on Feb. 11.