Altas complete 2nd cheerleading 3-peat

MANILA, Philippines - Perpetual Help capped a solid NCAA season by ruling the cheerleading competition for the third straight year, coming through with a performance to remember before an overflowing crowd at The Arena in San Juan City yesterday.

The Altas Perps Squad did a combination of beautifully choreographed dance with difficult pyramids and stunts they spiced up with pop and modern music spiced up to impress not just their peers and throngs of fans but also the judges.

The act gave Perpetual Help an impressive 335 points, way off the Mapua Cheerping Cardinals, who garnered only 304 points to finish second.

It was the second three-peat by the Las Piñas-based school and sixth overall in the last seven years that underscored their domination of the sport that was introduced in the oldest collegiate league eight seasons ago.

And the Perps did it with a brave bunch of untested and inexperienced rookies as most members of the winning teams the last two years had all graduated.

“This is a blessing, winning the championship again,” said Perpetual coach Ruf Vandolph Rosario, whose team pocketed the top purse of P100,000. “We had some anxious moments because this team is full of rookies and only one third of the veterans have remained.

“Despite this, the guys really trained hard and we were able to still pull it off despite lack of experience for some of the team members,” he added.

The win was a fitting ending to a successful season for Perpetual Help, which finished third overall in the general championship with victories in women’s beach volley and men’s and women’s indoor volleyball.

“It’s a proud moment for our school, our students and alumni as well, its a magical feeling,” said league president and policy board chair Anthony Tamayo of season host Perpetual Help.

“We laud all our teams for a job well done, they really deserve this win because they worked hard to be this far,” he added.

The Letran Cheering Team finished third with 256 points, edging the Arellano U Pep squad, which wound up with 255.5.