LU Dance strikes silver in Pom division, seventh in Jazz at College Classic in Orlando

Friday, April 10

Orlando, FL

8:00 AM

Liberty University Club Sports

The College Classic

LU Dance team members and staff celebrate its second-place showing in Division I Poms and seventh-place finish in Division I Jazz at this past weekend's College Classic National Championships in Orlando, Fla. (Photos by Amarah Narus)

LU Dance strikes silver in Pom division, seventh in Jazz at College Classic in Orlando

4/13/2026 4:31:00 PM | Dance Team

The Lady Flames wrapped up their season by competing at nationals for the second year in a row, improving on their finishes in both disciplines.

LU Dance Jazz performance at College Classic — LU Dance reached the finals of the Division I Jazz competition, landing in seventh place out of 24 programs.

Liberty University's LU Dance team placed second in the Division 1 Large Pom category and seventh in Division 1 Large Jazz after advancing to the finals for the first time at Saturday's and Sunday's College Classic National Championship in Orlando, Fla.

"It really was better than we could have asked or imagined," Lady Flames Head Coach Liz Hubbard said. "Our division was a lot harder this year than last year. We were dancing against a lot more-established teams. We've been competing longer and for us — and especially for me and my assistant coaches' first year coaching — it was something we were very proud of and something we were hoping for."

To celebrate the team's success, LU Dance remained in Florida for a visit to Universal Studios on Monday.

Liberty placed third out of nine programs in the Division I Pom category last spring in an extremely tight finish behind Ohio University and Central Michigan. This time, the team's preliminary performance earned it a score of 87.68 and qualified it for finals, where it placed second with a score of 93.00, narrowly missing a gold medal. Baylor University's dance team earned the gold with a score of 93.16, and the Lady Flames were followed closely by Oregon (third, 92.86) and Ohio (fourth, 92.38).

A total of eight collegiate teams competed in this event, with the University of Georgia's Red Hotz (fifth, 90.40), Florida Gulf Coast University (sixth, 89.38), Kent State University (seventh, 88.84), and the Indiana University Crimsonettes (eighth, 86.70) also in the field.

The team also competed in Division 1 Large Jazz, posting a score of 88.98 in the preliminary round to reach the semi-finals. There, LU Dance scored 88.80, which qualified it for the final round of competition, with 10 of the 24 teams eliminated. In the finals pool, the Lady Flames placed seventh out of 14 with a score of 91.94. Western Michigan University (94.48) won the competition and the University of Louisiana (94.42) and the University of Oregon (94.28) rounded out the podium in this division.

Last year, the team did not make the finals in Division 1 Large Jazz, so the seventh-place showing in this year's finals was an encouragement to the team and coaching staff.

"We placed 16th last year in jazz and we didn't even get to finals," Hubbard said. "It was still a tough division, with a similar amount of teams this year, but we were in a much more established division with the teams. There are a lot of state schools, and those teams that have a high budget have been a prominent name in the college dance world for a while. So I was really excited for them to go out there and just make a name for Liberty."

This nationals competition was especially memorable for the senior class, who Hubbard had previously danced together with prior to succeeding Christine Ewald as head coach this past summer.

"We knew the desires for the team from when we were on (it together), and we knew what they wanted to do, what (the seniors) were capable of," Hubbard said. "Just knowing their talents and their dreams of what they wanted Liberty to look like on stage, what they wanted Liberty to represent, and the success they dreamed of achieving ... that was something I was really excited to give the seniors this year because they worked so hard. That really translated through the dances, the choreography, and the music we selected. I was really glad that they got to see some fruit of their labor for these last four years."

Both the Pom and Jazz routines incorporated elements of Liberty's mission and the Gospel. The Pom performance was to an upbeat song "Praises" by ELEVATION RHYTHM, and the Jazz routine was set to the lyrical song "Via Dolorosa" by Sandi Patty, explaining the week Jesus experienced leading up to the crucifixion.

Through their dances that represented Liberty and Jesus, LU Dance was able to focus on sharing Christ's love with others and having an impact at the competition.

"The team talked beforehand and was focused on the fact that whatever happened at the competition, nothing compared to the glory set before them and the hope of heaven and our salvation," Hubbard said. "Through these dances, they knew they were going to touch hearts."

By Amory Doyle/Student Writer