DAYTONA, Fla. – Chadron State spirit checked off a significant milestone when they officially competed their first-ever routine at NCA Nationals in Daytona, Florida on Friday.

Competing in the Intermediate Small Coed Division II division, the Eagles earned a total event score of 19.1273, which has them placed 24th out of 25 competing programs in their division after the first of two routines. Saginaw Valley currently holds the top spot in the division with an event score of 23.2662. 

The Eagles are just .01 points out of 23rd place and .06 out of 22nd place. On the flip side, Chadron State has a cushion of nearly a point and a half over 25th, as that team had a preliminary score of 17.8056. 

Friday's score counts for 25 percent of the final standings, while Saturday's routine makes up 75 percent of the final total, so Chadron State can still make up a lot of ground with a solid second routine. 

The Eagles had a performance score of 76.5 and received 3.75 points of deductions during their routine. Teams are scored on both the difficulty and execution of building skills such as stunts, pyramids and tosses, standing and running tumbling skills and the overall image and composition of the routine. The Eagles stood out with their pyramid, which received nearly the highest skill score in CSC's division. 

With defending national champions Lindenwood now competing in Division I, the door is open for a new national champion. Saginaw Valley State, Friday's leader, is looking to complete a climb to the top after finishing fourth in 2023, third in 2024 and second in 2025. Saginaw Valley has a lead of nearly four-tenths of a point over second-place Lubbock Christian. Arkansas-Fort Smith, the division's national champion in 2024 and runner-up in 2023, sits in third.

All 25 programs will compete Saturday in reverse order of their Friday scores, with 25th place leading things off and first place after Friday's prelims earning the right to be the last to go on Saturday. With CSC competing early in the order on Saturday, the Eagles are scheduled to take to the competition mat at 11 a.m. MT (1 p.m. ET/local) for their second and final routine of the national competition.