Coming off third and fourth place finishes in 2008 and 2009, the cheerleading team will be looking to build upon those successes at this year’s national championship competition. The team will head south Tuesday to compete in the National Cheerleading Association championships in Daytona, Fla.

The Pack has finished well in previous national competitions, with a championship in 2001, the third national title in N.C. State team competition history.

Louisville University, which has won seven straight national competitions, is once again the favorite. In addition to their streak of titles, the Cardinals have won a total of 14 national titles in cheerleading.

But Kaylee Allen, a junior in her third year with the team, said her team is not ready to lie down and concede another title to the Cardinals.

“Louisville is one of our biggest competitors,” Allen said. “I, as well as the team, would love more than anything to win a national championship and have the bell tower light up red for us.”

Junior Jessie Oldham agreed.

“Louisville is one of our biggest competitors, and they have won for the past 7 years,” Oldham said. “But we train ourselves to not worry about other teams.”

Training is rigorous in the week leading up to nationals competition. The team ups its practice regime from two to three hours, three times a week, to two to three hours of practice a day for the week.

“Training for nationals this year has been very intense,” Allen said. “Every year there is a great possibility of placing extremely well, and we have to prove to ourselves and the nation that we are one of the best cheerleading squads around.”

The team will leave Raleigh for Daytona on Tuesday, with Wednesday serving as the final practice day to prepare for the competition. Thursday is prelim day, with the best scoring teams moving onto the finals on Friday. The best scores on that day determine the national champion. Saturday will be devoted to stunt competitions and the mascot challenges.

The NCA is a 52-year-old sanctioning body responsible for cheerleading competitions in high school and college. Judging is broken down into several different sections, such as stunt, tumbling, motions, dance, pyramid and jumps/tosses. Teams are rewarded both for their execution and for the difficulty of their attempts. All scoring will be measured on a ten-point scale, with winners typically scoring in the nine-point range.

“We will do everything we can to bring the national championship trophy back to Raleigh,” Oldham said.