ORLANDO, FL – On Friday, the Nazareth Dance Team competed at the UDA College Dance Team Nationals at ESPN World Wide Sports. In all, 31 teams competed in the open jazz category (against other NCAA Division III dance teams) and the Golden Flyers narrowly missed out on finishing in the top-16 to advance to Saturday's finals. The team was within 1.5 points of the cutoff, and received higher execution scores than some of the teams that advanced, but ultimately came down to the judge's opinions.

The routine was performed to "Innocence and Sadness" by Dermot Kennedy and was choreographed by both head coaches, Natalie Salewski and Kristin Thayer, along with the three captains, Alaina Sprole (Senior), Hailey Eschberger (Grad), and Mikayla Avery (Junior). The team began working on the dance in early October and have performed it at men's and women's home basketball games during halftime. 
 
"We are so proud of the team and the hard work they have put in to prepare for this competition," said coaches Natalie Salewski and Kristin Thayer. "With half of the team being rookies and only three of them having ever performed on the Nationals floor, we are thrilled with the outcome, especially in our first Nationals experience as coaches."
 
"As captains we could not have asked for a better day and performance than the girls gave and the coaches provided," said co-captains Alaina Sprole, Hailey Eschberger, and Mikayla Avery. "Our ambition and commitment to making ourselves the best we could be is easily found in the dance we gave."
 
NDT will also be competing this routine at the UDA New England Dance Championship in Beverly, MA (at Endicott College) on Sunday, February 16 and at the NDT Collegiate Classic (at Nazareth) hosted in Kidera Gymnasium on Sunday, March 30.