DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -  SNHU Cheer has arrived in Daytona Beach for the NCA Championships.  The Penmen perform at 10:50 a.m. Friday at the Bandshell in the Advanced All-Girl Division II with schools from around the nation.

By Captains Brooke Drouin (Derry, N.H.) & Alexis Chrissanthis (Derry, N.H.) --  (filed late Wednesday night)
 
We arrived in Daytona last night and we had our first official practice today. We started with a stunt warm-up session outside in the grass surrounded by other incredible programs such as Weber, Alma, and Texas Tech. It was sunny and hot, but we had a perfect start to our day. Then, we went inside the Hilton Daytona Beach Resort to the practice facility where we finished our run-through, and warm-up, and ended with a full-out routine. The energy from the team was off the chain, Coach McCarty was happy, and feel we are well prepared.
 
After practice, we went back down to the grass area to fix a few stunts and routine parts until we felt good about them.  After this, we took a trip down to the bandshell to see it before competition day. Freshman Grace Brooks' (Nashua, N.H.) first impression of the bandshell was "I thought it was very surreal being there in person because I've only ever seen it from the TV point of view or people's videos. So, it was cool to have a different perspective of it!" When Brooks was asked if she was excited to step foot on the bandshell, she stated "Yes, I am very excited to step foot onto the bandshell. I am looking forward to getting to experience that with my amazing team and to put all the hard work we've been doing all season out there to make a good impression for ourselves." The freshman of the team enjoyed seeing the bandshell in person for the first time today.
 
After finishing our first practice day in Daytona, we got the unfortunate news that our preliminary competition would be rescheduled due to weather. Thankfully, we were granted not only an extra practice day but also an extra day as a team. Sophomore Talen Letoile expressed her love for this team when she stated, "I think that since we are always together and we spend so much time together, we have become so much closer as a team. It feels like we are a big family. Even when we have the option to branch off and go in small groups, we all end up going together. I genuinely feel like my teammates are like sisters to me and I love them more than anything." We are very excited about the competition on Friday and Saturday. But for now, the team is off to bed and ready to go to practice #2 tomorrow!

Live streaming of the event (for a fee) is available through Varsity TV.

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