Cheer and Dance place high in Daytona Beach

The GW cheer and dance teams had a successful weekend in the Chik-fil-A Collegiate Cheer and Dance Championships in Daytona Beach, Fla.

The dance team finished in seventh place out of 25 teams, and the cheer team finished fourth out of 13 teams. Both squads improved over last year, when the dance team finished ninth and the cheer team finished fifth.

It was the first year the dance team made the finals of the competition. It also won the academic excellence award for the highest overall grade point average in the competition.

“We really made a name for ourselves this weekend,” said senior Jessica Smith, a member of the dance team. “It was really big for us to be in the top group of teams.”

Joens receives award for three-point shooting

Fifth-year senior Cathy Joens was the recipient of the Edward S. Steitz award for the nation’s top female three-point shooter Thursday. The honor is given by the National Basketball Hall of Fame and the Springfield, Mass., basketball tournament committee.

Joens also made it to the semifinals of the 16th Annual Mountain Dew College Basketball Slam-Dunk and Three Point Championships. Joens qualified for the semis after posting one of the top four scores in the first round and then tied Boston College standout Amber Jacobs for second place in her bid to move to the finals. The two shooters had a 24 second shootout to determine the finalist and Jacobs won.

Joens is the most prolific three-point shooter in GW women’s basketball history with 286 three-pointers.

-Joshua Meredith