Dancesport
The UCSD dancesport team (also known as the ballroom dance team) placed first on Jan. 10 and Jan. 11 at the 2004 Intercontinental Collegiate Championship in Daytona Beach, Fla. The dance competition was a week-long event hosted by the International Dancesport Federation and consisted of over 1,000 entries from 15 colleges and two continents.
This year, UCSD brought a six-couple Latin Medley formation team to the event with “”Evita”” as the theme. The Medley consisted of the five international Latin dances: samba, jive, rumba, paso doble and cha-cha.
The team competed on the night of Jan. 9 and marked a milestone by beating BYU-Idaho.
“”It was great because we placed higher than BYU-Idaho,”” UCSD head coach Peter Edwards said. “”They’re always a contender at nationals. But everyone worked hard putting in extra practice hours, and it showed on the dance floor.””
The competition consisted of a five-minute choreographed routine scored by judges who are also professional ballroom dancers.
“”[BYU-Idaho] were clean and had a nice routine, but I think we were able to grab the crowd’s attention and hold them captive for five minutes,”” UCSD team member and alumna Jaime Chew said.
The UCSD dancesport team is now preparing to host and compete in the annual Dance by the Shores Collegiate Dancesport Championships, which will be held on March 6 at Main Gym. This will be the ninth year that this event has been held, and it has quickly become the largest collegiate competition on the West Coast.
Cycling
Matt Sadauckas, an alumnus of the UCSD cycling team, recently signed his first professional contract with the Parish Foundation professional cycling team. Sadauckas joins two other UCSD cycling alumni, Pete Knudsen and Adam Livingston on the Parish Foundation team.
“”I’m pretty excited about being back in the states, racing for and with riders I really respect,”” Sadauckas said. “”It’s going to be a great year.””
He returns this year after racing two seasons in Belgium with the ABC Aitos team. Sadauckas is well poised to compete after spending two years battling wind and rain in northern Europe.
“”Matt’s number-one asset is mental toughness,”” former UCSD teammate senior Geoff Rapoport said. “”Every time Matt rolls up to the start line, he races like his life depends on it. The Parish guys are lucky to have him on their side.””
The Parish Foundation is an organization that supports cancer patients, their families and their caregivers. The team hopes to raise awareness and promote the courage and spirit of the foundation’s namesake, Teri Parish.
Livingston is one of the strongest climbers in the county. In 2000, he won the highly competitive King of the Mountains competition in the U.S. Pro National Championships road race.
Knudsen is now entering his third year as a professional cyclist. While racing for the UCSD cycling team, Knudsen won the Collegiate National Championship in 2000. Sadauckas finished second in the Collegiate National Championship road race in 2002.
Meanwhile, the collegiate mountain bike season has concluded, and UCSD placed seventh in the Western Collegiate Cycling Conference. This is the team’s first time back after a few seasons of hiatus.
