THE ATENEO Blue Babble Battalion placed 7th in the overall standings of the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 79 cheerdance competition on Saturday, November 19 at the SMART Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

The team garnered 55.5 points in tumbling, 64 points in stunts, 67.5 points in tosses, 74 points in pyramids, 281 points in dance, and 30 points in penalties and deductions which totals to a tallied score of 512 points.

Although the team fell to last place once again behind the De La Salle University Animo Squad (6th place), the team concluded the competition feeling fulfilled with regards to the improvement of their overall routine and performance from that of last season.

“Regardless of what happened, we did not have a perfect run, but we’re still very happy with the run that we were able to have,” said Team Captain Elena Villanueva. “The audience could see that we were really enjoying our performance and that our team was able to work together very well.”

The Blue Babble Battalion entered the floor with a new uniform style, characterized by a full body suit and white eagle feathers on the shoulders. The battalion began their performance with the “Go, Ateneo!” cheer and a synchronized choreography. Although there were errors in the lifts and tumbles executed by the team, the overall dance segment improved, as this is the forte of their new coaches. The ending piece of the performance was highlighted by the team’s expression of the Blue Eagle, where the cheerdancers all wore eagle headdresses and surprised the crowd by flashing eagle wings in the conclusion of their performance.

The Blue Babble Battalion was more than grateful for the support of the Ateneo community, as the audience was predominantly composed of the school’s different athletic teams. “We are overwhelmed by the support. We’ve been checking the respective twitter handles of the teams and we loved it whether it was required or not,” expressed Blue Babble Battalion Program Director Ralph Aligada. “The fact that they’re here and we really appreciate it.”

In addition to support from the Ateneo audience, the premier pep squad of the Ateneo gives credit to Ateneo’s University Athletics Office, College Athletics Office and their other partners for their significant contributions to help the team improve. The offices have granted more scholarships to the team, employed the best coaches, and gave the team physical therapists to aid in the medical treatment of injured cheerdancers.

Although the battalion still continues to face problems with recruitment and their struggles of avoiding injuries in training, the team believes that their talented rookies have laid a good foundation to lead the team to a solid finish in the next few years.

“Hopefully before they graduate, they [the rookies] will be able to earn a podium finish before they graduate,” said Villanueva.

Final Rankings:

1- NU, 2- FEU, 3- ADU, 4- UST, 5- UE, 6- DLSU, 7- Ateneo