University of Saskatchewan wins national cheerleading championship

National champions.

The U of S cheerleadingteam likes the ring of that.

The 26-member team won the national cheerleading title in Brampton, Ont. this weekend. Not only did the team win, it won by beating the defending champions,the University of Regina.

It was close, right to the end, said Shanda Leftley. She's one of the three coaches.

Each stunt team runs their routine twice and, after the U of S's first run, they were in second place and less than a point behind the Regina squad.

"We told them that the judges are saying that you're almost there, so if you want this win, you guys have to show them that you have the routine that is the best routine and your skills are better than everyone else's," Leftley said.

The team pulled together and finished ahead of the U of R by just over four points. The U of S also beat out Guelph, Carleton, Sherbrooke and McMaster universities.

The U of S team is made up of 26 athletes - 22 women and four men. The team doesn't receive any funding from the U of S, so the journey to nationals was paid for out-of-pocket and by fundraising.

The team still has one final competition in Edmonton in January before theseason winds down. Then the road to defend thetitle starts with tryouts in April.

Leftley said although five or six members will be graduating and not returning, she feels like shewill still have a strong team in 2015.

"That will be tough to lose those vets, but we do have a bunch of strong second and third-year athletes who I believe are going to be continuing on with us ... I think we're going to be able to keep up this stamina," Leftley said.

The championship team was coached by Leftley, Nicole Wegner and Gordon Derry.