ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Wrapping up its inaugural season, William Woods University turned in a pair of outstanding performances to claim third place in the AMC/SAC Competitive Cheer NAIA Qualifier on Saturday. The Owls were one of only two schools to throw perfect routines in the final round and tied for the smallest deduction total over the two rounds. Both individual scores (80.97 prelim/82.36 final) were new program bests, with the composite score of 82.02 just four points shy of Missouri Baptist. In addition to the third place team finish, head coach Toni Snyder was named AMC/SAC Coach of the Year.

"Coming into this season, every athlete in our program was new to competitive cheerleading - some at the college level, some entirely new to the sport - and after facing so many challenges this season we still managed to finish with a huge success," said Snyder. "Scoring an 82.37 in the final round to help us finish second in our conference and third overall is a big accomplishment."

WWU's preliminary round routine was rated the third most challenging by the judges overall, with the tumbling segments for Woods rated equally as difficult as that of Missouri Baptist and Oklahoma City and the pyramid segment for Woods ranked four-tenths harder than OCU's. The Owls weren't able to make up ground on the leaders in the execution of their routine, but sat comfortably in third after pulling away from Langston University in both difficulty and execution.

The final round routine for Woods was again rated the third most difficult by the judges going into the last full-out, with all three leaders adjusting their routines only slightly, while backmarkers Columbia College and Williams Baptist bumped their difficulties by a full point. Execution scores were higher across the board in the final round, with Woods trimming nearly a point and a half from the gap between their score and leader OCU (5.73 gap in prelims, 4.31 gap in finals), narrowing the overall deficit to 8.24 points after deductions.

As the composite scores (25 percent prelims/75 percent finals) were announced, Woods was able to maintain its five-point lead over fourth-place Langston and close to just under nine points back of repeat NAIA qualifiers OCU.

During the award ceremony recognizing the outstanding performers of the meet, Snyder was announced as the AMC/SAC Coach of the Year. Snyder led a young WWU team to several standout performances throughout the team's inaugural season, and was recognized by his colleagues for the effort.

"I am so honored and blessed to have received the 'Coach of the Year' award for the AMC and SAC conferences!" added Snyder. "This award isn't possible without appreciating my personal 'Team of the Year' - our Owls, who broke my personal record score as both an athlete or coach. My coaching peers, the amazing administration, and most of all, my kids make every long day, early morning, and stressful era worth it!"

Final Standings
1. Oklahoma City University – 90.74 [90.62(1.50) final, 91.10(1.00) prelim]
2. Missouri Baptist University – 86.09 [86.64(0.75) final, 84.49(1.50) prelim]
3. William Woods University – 82.02 [82.38(0.00) final, 80.97(0.50) prelim]
4. Langston University – 76.96 [77.61(0.00) final, 75.01(0.75) prelim]
5. Oklahoma Panhandle State University – 62.71 [62.76(0.50) final, 62.57(0.00) prelim]
6. Williams Baptist University – 57.63 [58.48(2.00) final, 55.11(1.25) prelim]
7. Columbia College – 55.30 [56.47(1.00) final, 51.77(1.75) prelim]

Numbers in parentheses () represent deductions already applied to listed round score.