IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa dance team and Herky the Hawk will compete next week at the 2013 College Nationals, presented by the Universal Cheerleaders Association/Universal Dance Association (UCA/UDA). Competition takes place at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., on Jan. 18-20, 2013.
The competition highlights the top cheerleading, dance and mascot programs in the country.
The Iowa dance team will compete in the pom and jazz divisions and plans on continuing its rise to the top. Last year, the team had both routines advance to finals.
The Hawkeyes have stepped up their skills over the past year, are stronger and quicker. The choreography for both routines has been worked out to highlight team strengths and allow the judges to see the team’s strengths. The dance team will compete against 22 of the top teams in the nation, including many from the Big Ten that finish in the top 10 year-after-year.
Herky the Hawk is returning for the second year in a row. He will compete with a routine highlighting creativity, crowd leadership, prop ingenuity and crowd entertainment against 10 of the top mascots in the country. With a creative twist on a theme no one has used before, Herky is planning on surprising the audience and judges with an amazing routine.
Fans of the Iowa spirit squads can follow the team at www.varsity.com and within that website there is a link to VarsityTV, where the competition will be streamed throughout the weekend of Jan. 18-20, 2013.