NU reclaims UAAP Cheerdance crown

(UPDATE) NATIONAL University (NU) reigned in the UAAP Season 87 Cheerdance competition on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Performing before a crowd of 19,000, the NU Pep Squad claimed its eighth title overall. They also won in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2022.

NU joined the University of the Philippines (UP) and the University of Santo Tomas (UST) as the schools with the most cheerdance titles.

It garnered a total of 713 points to dethrone Far Eastern University, which placed third.

NU took the stage dressed in astronaut costumes eventually transforming into aliens.

The highlight of NU’s performance was two rotating dancers that were mounted, mimicking the spinning galaxies.

NU team captain John Paul Cabido credited his coaches for the concept and theme.

“We are so excited, and we are grateful for our coaches’ concept and idea. We trusted them for the piece that we performed today. This is for the NU community,” Cabido said.

Adamson’s Karaoke theme earned it runner-up honors with 679.5 points.

The Adamson Pep Squad played iconic karaoke songs such as “Breathless” by the Corrs and “Dancing Queen” by Abba, making the crowd cheer and sing along during their performance.

FEU’s performance had a “Frozen”-inspired theme.

University of the East (UE) Pep Squad, inspired by the iconic 2000s girl group Sex Bomb, settled for fourth place with 641 points.

After two straight podium finishes, UST dropped to fifth (634.5 points) place with its Batang ’90s routine, while the UP Varsity Pep Squad took the sixth place (560 points) with their Summer theme vibes, paying homage to the sunflowers in the university campus.

De La Salle University (525 points) and Ateneo de Manila University (490 points) placed seventh and eighth, respectively.

La Salle delighted the crowd with its chess team, moving all the pieces, while Ateneo was inspired by the Big Bang theory.