ANAHEIM, Calif.  The Western Colorado cheerleading team over the weekend participated in the 2022 United Spirit Association (USA) Nationals, completing the two-day event in third place within the nine-team Small Co-Ed Show Cheer-4-year College Division.

The Mountaineer squad was the highest placing NCAA Division II team (of five) in the standings and were ranked ahead of D-I programs from San Jose State University and the University of Southern California.

Western opened the competition Saturday with a performance score of 91.2 points, a total that trailed only eventual champion California State University-Fresno, whose performance score of 93.2 included zero deductions from its raw score in the preliminary round.

Portland State University's raw score of 92.8 was ahead of Western's 92.7, but PSU had deductions of 4.0 points while the Mountaineers' total was only reduced by 1.5 points of deductions.

Day 2 on Sunday saw the Mountaineer squad post a raw score 93.2 and, with only 2.5 deductions, a performance score of 90.7.

Fresno State once again topped the tables with a 93.9 raw score and no deductions, while Portland State hit a raw score of 93.8 with only 0.5 in deductions.

The final scoring listed Fresno State on top with a 93.69 event score, followed by Portland State (91.95) and Western (90.85).

Joining Western in the competition from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference were Colorado Mesa University (seventh place) and Colorado State University Pueblo (eighth).

Its participation in the USA Nationals Spirit competition was the first for a program that had four team members when Stacy Fuller was named head coach in April 2019 and mentored the team through a pair of COVID-affected seasons. The 2021-22 squad now has 13 members, with only one junior and four sophomores amongst the young squad's roster.