Cheers!

The University of the Philippines Pep Squad bucked the pressure and went ethnic and more to run away with its second straight UAAP Samsung Cheer Dance Competition crown before a record crowd at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Maroons did everything, from mixing tribal songs and dances with difficult stunts and acrobatics, to having their locks cut – Mohawk and ethnic style – before capping their sterling performance with a human replica of the university’s Oblation to retain the crown they won last season.

UP won it handily with a score of 93.3 points, way ahead of the Santo Tomas Salinggawi Dance Troupe, which also finished runner-up for the second straight time with 85.3 points. Far Eastern U Cheering Squad took third place honors with 83.9 points.

“We’ve been having problems because the mounting pressure of being the defending champion and the Centennial host and it caused some problems along the way,” said UP co-captain Angelica Sison, a communications research senior in the din of the celebration before a record 23,443 paying patrons.

“But we found ourselves believing in each other. We basically re-focused our purpose in this competition. Ultimately, we enjoyed every step, every dance, every stunt. It’s fun, fun, fun.”

The team, composed of a total of 80 competing and non-competing members took home the top purse worth P195,000 plus Samsung MP3s to 25 members.

UST and FEU received P120,000 and P80,000, respectively.

Among the stunts performed by UP were three pyramids, some straddle tosses, one-man pop-off catch flip transfer for twisting dismount, pull downs, a four-man full twisting transfer, tumbling passes and a tick-tock stunt.

UP iced the victory with sweeping effect using a huge green and maroon-colored cloth that when it was removed, two letters – U and P – and the human oblation emerged.

“The oblation idea was the brilliance of a last-minute thinking. Coach Lalaine Perena thought of it,” said Sison.

“We even hired a choreographer in RM Garcia who worked in Disney in Hong Kong, He came home to put this thing together for us,” said Sison. “We also had to cut our hair for the team because this was the idea of coach Lala.”