FAILING to regain the UAAP Cheerdance Competition title from National University only made the University of the Philippines Pep Squad a hungrier team.
“For me gutom pa kami for championships and that will be our goal next year,” declared team captain Audrey Munoz, shortly after the Diliman-based school finished runner-up behind NU for the second straight year during Sunday’s competition watched by a crowd of 22,093 fans at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
For a team used to finishing at the top of the podium, another runner-up trophy is not good enough.
“Kasi ang goal namin was to give a perfect run, and I think na-achieve namin `yun,” said Munoz. “We didn’t expect to be champions, but we hoped. There’s a difference.”
“But nakaka-sad,” she added.
UP began its routine with a minor fall, but other than that, everything went smoothly during a six-minute performance that saw the eight-time titlist highlight a vision of equality.
Instead of female cheerdancers, it’s their male counterparts who were the ones tossed and lifted, with the ladies serving as the base of the pyramid.
The men also dance to the beat supposed to be for their female counterparts and vice versa.
“I’m happy that we delivered our message of equality. Girls ang nagbuhat sa boys and 'yung boys naman ang nag-fly,” said the UP Pep Squad skipper.
Munoz however, made it clear the UP cheerdancers were satisfied with how their performance went.
“We deserved it (second place),” said Munoz when asked what was the first thing that came to her mind when UP Pep Squad was named first runner-up.
“They (NU) deserved it (first place),” she added. “We just wanted to give a good show and after our performance, sobrang saya namin kasi we gave it all.”
Munoz, a fourth-year sports science student, said she’s still uncertain on whether to dance in her final year with the team next season.
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