DANCESPORT
The UCSD dancesport team took first place on the weekend of April 2 through April 4 at the prestigious San Francisco Open competition. The event, held at the San Francisco Marriott, attracts competitors from all over the world. UCSD competed in the formation team event, featuring seven teams from California colleges and studios.
The team performed its exciting “No Doubt” punk-rock-inspired Latin medley routine, impressing judges with its technically sound dancing and charisma. Final point totals gave UCSD first place, well over runner-up Claremont College.
“Claremont looked really clean,” said UCSD co-captain Lawrence Ortiguerra. “Their lines were nice, their dancing was nice … everything was nice. The difference was that we just had that extra difficulty, that extra excitement that won over the judges.”
With the team’s multiple wins at tough competitions, co-captain Lindy Cabot is optimistic about the remainder of the season. “This year’s team is amazing,” she said. “They are talented, enthusiastic and incredibly hard-working. They always give their best effort, and I think that this competition has set a great standard for the rest of our season.”
The team leaves on April 9 for its next competition at Stanford.
EQUESTRIAN
The UCSD equestrian team sent five riders to Twin Falls, Idaho, April 2 through April 4 to compete in the Zone 8 Intercollegiate Horse Show Association Championships hosted by the College of Southern Idaho.
Although just two points held the Tritons back from sending the entire English team to Zone 8, they were well-represented by senior Linda Torres, junior co-captain Marce Evans, junior co-captain Kate McComas, junior Shannon Ward and sophomore Alicia Cunningham-Bryant.
Torres finished first in Intermediate Fences, fourth in Open Flat and seventh in Western Open Horsemanship. Evans took second in Novice Fences, while McComas finished fourth in Open Fences. Ward placed first in Walk-Trot-Canter Equitation and Cunningham-Bryant landed an eighth-place finish in Western Intermediate Horsemanship.
The top-two riders in each class qualified to compete at IHSA Nationals at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tenn., May 6 through May 9. Evans, Torres and Ward will represent UCSD. Riders in IHSA competitions compete on borrowed horses in both Western and English equitation, where the rider is judged on her ability to communicate with the horse on the flat, in Western patterns and in English courses with fences ranging from 2 feet, 3 inches to 3’3”.
DANCE TEAM
The UCSD dance team placed third at the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA)/National Dance Alliance (NDA) Collegiate Nationals in Daytona Beach, Fla., held April 1 through April 8, the largest and most competitive collegiate dance competition in the world.
UCSD competed against 18 other Division II schools from across the world in the five-day tournament, taking third place behind Japan’s Tamagawa University and Hawaii Pacific University. April 1’s preliminary round landed UCSD in sixth place, but the team was able to step it up a few notches for the finals on April 2.
The third-place finish is the dance team’s highest finish at Nationals in four years. Earlier in the year, the team took a first-place win at the COA collegiate championships.
The NCA/NDA Nationals are scheduled to be televised on Fox Sport Net in late April. The exact date and time were unavailable at press time.
BADMINTON
On April 3, the undefeated and reigning national champion UCSD badminton team won its final league game of the season against San Diego State. The win secured UCSD’s conference championship for the second consecutive year.
UCSD took the win over SDSU, 11-4. The combined point totals of the men’s and women’s sides needed to be at least eight in order to win the game.
UCSD badminton is currently training hard for the upcoming Intercollegiate National Badminton Championship, to be held at Stanford May 7 though May 9. The team will defend its national title — a lofty goal, especially after losing three of its starting players last year due to graduation. Nevertheless, the team is proud of its conference championship victory and looks to win it all again.
TRIATHLON
The UCSD triathlon team began its season at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on March 13. The team traveled north to compete in Cal Poly’s annual March Warm-Up and began the West Coast Collegiate Series. The team placed second, behind UC Berkeley and ahead of Cal Poly. The teams are scored by combining the times of the top three male and female triathletes. UCSD’s scoring athletes were Sharon Bergquist, Natasha Cridler, Emily Vala-Haynes, Brendan O’Brien, Daniel Derkacs and John Burke. Outside of the Collegiate Division, O’Brien placed first overall and Derkacs placed fourth. Andrea Collopy, Alex Bartos and Richard Ahn completed their first triathlon. The team’s next race will be at Lake Havasu for the Collegiate Nationals on April 24.
