ORLANDO —— Ohio State University’s spirit program is bringing home gold.
Ohio State’s dance, cheer and mascot teams each earned a national championship at the 2026 UCA & UDA College Cheerleading and Dance Team National Championship, held Jan. 16-18 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando.
The competition kicked off Friday with first-place win in the Division IA Spirit Game Day category.
Game Day routines consist of a combined performance from Ohio State’s cheerleaders, dance team and Brutus Buckeye. Their winning performance — set to the tune of “Buckeye Battlecry,” “Le Regiment” and “Hang On Sloopy” — scored nearly six points better than second-place University of Oklahoma and eight points higher than third-place University of Washington.
It is the Buckeyes’ third-consecutive national championship in the Game Day category. Prior to 2024, the spirit team had not won a national championship in the category since 1993.
Brutus Buckeye took home his own national championship Saturday in the Division IA Mascot competition. The win marked Brutus’ first win in the category since 2019.
To qualify for nationals, mascots from across the country must first submit an entry video. Mascots are scored out of 100 and the top 10 teams are invited to perform at nationals. Their video score accounts for half of their final scores.
Brutus then performed a 90-second skit on the nationals stage, which was written by members of the spirit squad and coaching staff. This year’s performance was bank heist-themed, with Brutus on a mission for the championship ring. Performances are graded on props, dance moves, soundtrack and crowd involvement.
Brutus bested the University of Minnesota’s Goldy Gopher in second place and the University of Tennessee’s Smokey in third.
Ohio State’s award-winning dance program rounded out the weekend with a win in the Division IA Jazz category, its third consecutive win and sixth in the last seven years.
This year’s winning routine, choreographed by Shannon Mather with contributing choreography by Nicole Smith, was inspired by “Black Swan.” The emotional and high-speed routine was set to a soaring operatic soundtrack.
Ohio State’s Jazz routines have gone viral on social media in recent years, and this performance was no different. In 2024, after not placing in the previous year’s competition, the Buckeyes came back and narrowly earned the top spot with a routine set to Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.”
The Buckeyes had the highest score in the preliminary and semifinals rounds leading into Sunday’s finale. Ohio State scored a 96.7833, beating out Louisiana State University and Minnesota
The university’s dance team has been nearly undefeated since 2018, winning at least one national championship eight of the last nine years, including three in 2022.
The Buckeyes also took home third place in the Pom category, finishing behind Minnesota and Texas Tech University.
Ohio State cheer is led by first-year head coach Kelsea Giantonio, hired last summer from Vanderbilt University. The dance and spirit team is led by Melissa McGhee, who has been a part of 14 national championships in seven years, with assistant coaches Patrick Carmichael and Katie Devine. The mascot team is led by coaches Ray Sharp and Tim Thiel.
Higher education reporter Sheridan Hendrix can be reached at shendrix@dispatch.com and on Signal at @sheridan.120. You can follow her on Instagram at @sheridanwrites.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State brings home three titles at UCA & UDA National Championships
Reporting by Sheridan Hendrix, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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