The last two weeks of winter break, the cheerleaders and Rock Chalk Dancers prepared their routines, while Big Jay worked on shaking his tail feathers. That work paid off after they took part in a national competition from Jan. 16 to 18.

Big Jay sends in a video each year to the Universal Dance Association (UDA), auditioning for the College Nationals competition. This was the first time that UDA chose Big Jay to participate, in Orlando, Fla.

Big Jay placed ninth out of 22 Division-IA mascots. Big Jay has participated in the Capital One Bowl mascot competition, but never an official national championship.

In his skit, Big Jay used an ESPN “The Ocho” theme, with spoofs of different types of competitions. The skit included Big Jay in a hot dog eating competition that ended with him regurgitating the hot dogs into a Jayhawk head; a karaoke competition; a walk-off competition similar to a Zoolander walk-off, where he pulled out Big Jay underwear from under his shorts; a strength competition where Big Jay rips a phone book apart; and a dance competition.

Big Jay, who keeps his student identity hidden, said he had high expectations going into the competition, but felt good about his first-ever UDA competition.

“It’s pretty amazing if you sit back and think about it. We got ninth and were disappointed about that,” Big Jay said. “But when you think about it, we’re the first ones to ever do it.”

In addition to Big Jay’s top-10 finish, the KU Cheer Squad took fifth place at the Universal Cheerleaders Association college nationals competition. The squad sent 16 cheerleaders and two alternates.

After placing first in the Mid-American Region cheerleading competition for the first time in school history, the squad received a fully paid bid to nationals. The fifth-place finish at nationals was the highest ever at the University.

Lizzie Bellinger, Plano, Texas, junior cheerleader, said the wanted to place well, but cared most about nailing the routine.

“I don’t think anyone was expecting to place top five, so that was a huge accomplishment for us,” Bellinger said. “In the past, we’ve never really done too well at this competition so when we found out we got the full-paid bid, that was awesome.”

The Rock Chalk Dancers also accompanied Big Jay and the cheerleaders to Orlando to participate in the Universal Dance Association college nationals, held in conjunction with UCA.

First-year head coach Mandy Pruett and the Rock Chalk Dancers placed ninth in the hip-hop category and 11th in the jazz category out of 28 teams in the Division-IA competition. Last year the dancers placed fourth in jazz and sixth in hip-hop.

Considering the dancers had to pull a hip-hop routine together in two weeks, Darcy Stanger, Davenport, Iowa, junior dancer, said they felt good about their jazz and hip-hop routines this year.

“The caliber and level of dancing that goes to nationals are unreal,” Stanger said. “Going there and finishing in the top 10 is an honor.”

The Rock Chalk Dancers and the cheerleaders placed highest among the Big 12 Conference schools. Chip, the University of Colorado’s mascot, finished highest out of Big 12 mascots.

Big Jay 2009 UCA/UDA College Nationals: Routine Highlights

— — Edited by Sonya English