The Pioneer cheer and dance teams showed up at the Aquinas (Mich.) College Saints Showdown this past Sunday.

Multiple teams from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Northeast Region participated in the competition in Grand Rapids, Mich. Of the five cheer teams, Point Park placed second. As for the dance squad, the Pioneers also placed second of nine.

The cheering Pioneers finished the day with a score of 74.43, second to Lourdes (Ohio) University with 85.81. Host Aquinas finished third with 69.60, Siena Heights University fourth with 60.85 and Rochester College last with 52.03.

The Pioneers improved their performance from past weeks and remained close to their average score of the season.

The dancing Pioneers started the day with a face off against Aquinas before the full competition took place. Aquinas won the match up 82.25 to 77.50 and kept the momentum to place first in the Showdown.

The hosting team finished with 84.66 points and the Pioneers finished runner-up with 81.33 points. The two universities boasted the only teams to earn above 80 points. Third place Siena Heights finished nearly seven points behind Point Park, and Keiser University earned the lowest score of the contest with 48.33 points.

Currently the cheer squad is ranked No. 15 in the NAIA averaging 74.86 points after six events. On the other hand, the dance team ranks in the back half of the top ten at No. 6, averaging 80.99 points per competition after seven events, the most for any of the NAIA dance teams.

The teams only have one more competition remaining in the regular season. Both will be at the Siena Heights Saints Spectacular on Feb. 10, ahead of the NAIA Northeast Regional contest on Feb. 25, also at Siena Heights. The Pioneers will then have their sights set on the NAIA National Championship finals held in Davenport, Iowa on March 8-9.