Western Kentucky’s cheer team brought home the program’s third national championship in three years this past weekend, claiming the title in the D1A All-Girl Division of the UCA Collegiate National Championship in Orlando, Fla.

“What a weekend for the Tops in Orlando at the UCA Collegiate National Championship,” WKU head cheerleading coach and spirit program coordinator Alli Lumpkin said in a news release. “Our coed team entered the D1A Large Coed Division for the first time since 2019 and came out of the semifinal round in first place with zero deductions.

“All-Girl was the final team to qualify from the semifinals to the final round. Both WKU teams were one of maybe five teams to finish with a zero-point deduction routine in at least one of the rounds of competition. Dalton (Stanley) and I are extremely proud of the way both teams represented our university this weekend. The future is so bright for WKU Cheer. Congratulations to our All-Girl National Champions, winning by over five points.”

After placing seventh in the semifinals and being the last team in to advance into Sunday’s final round, WKU made a stellar turnaround, scoring a perfect 92.7 with no deductions to take home the trophy.

The all-girl squad won the division by more than five points as every other team had a lower raw score and took deductions. Rounding out the top five was Oklahoma, Alabama, UAB and Ole Miss.

WKU’s cheer team has brought home one title in each of Lumpkin’s three years at the helm of the program with the D1A All-Girl title in 2021 and D1A Small Coed title in 2022. Dalton Stanley, assistant coach of the program, has also been a part of each of WKU’s three titles.

WKU’s coed cheer team placed seventh in the D1A Coed Cheer section with a finals score of 87.9. The team returned to the large coed section after two years in the small coed division.