UST makes it 3 in row in cheer-dance

University of Santo Tomas’ Salingawi Dance Troupe kept its winning tradition yesterday as it ruled the Nestle Non-Stop Ice Cream cheer-dance competition for the third straight year amidst a sea of colors at the Araneta Coliseum.

Mixing catchy music ranging from techno pop, rock, jazz, hip-hop and classical with an assortment of difficult throws and tosses and the traditional pyramids, the España-based group was just too classy as it wowed a throng of fans numbering over 17,000.

It was simply a dominating performance for UST as it amassed a total score of 93.61 points to clinch the top purse worth P115,000 courtesy of Nestle Non-Stop, the glass trophy and the bragging rights as the league’s best cheerdancers.

"We’re happy, really happy. Our efforts and hardships really paid off," said Salingawi skipper and president Jacky Tan, a graduating information management student who is also a member the winning team the last three years.

"We know we had a stronger chance this year despite the tremendous pressure. But I didn’t expect to have a score this big," said choreographer Ryan Silva, the man behind every move, twist and turn of the group’s number.

More than three points behind at second place was University of the Philippines with 90.56 points while Far Eastern U was a distant third with 87.09.

Aside from the trophies, the Pep Squad from Diliman and cheerdancers from Morayta get to take home P75,000 and P45,000, respectively.

Last year’s biggest surprise Ateneo remained at No. 4 with host La Salle improving from a disappointing seventh spot in 2003 to fifth this season.

Adamson, 2002 runner-up University of the East and National University finished at sixth, seventh and eighth places, respectively.

What clinched it for UST was its unique and highly difficult three-man helicopter toss, the idea of which was taken from a foreign cheerdance magazine borrowed by Silva from a friend.

"I got the idea from a magazine and we experimented it. When we found out that we can do it this year, we just perfected it and I think it’s one of the things that won us the title this year," Silva said. — Joey Villar