Qualifiers for 2020 Competitive Dance Championship Announced
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) officially announced the qualifiers for the 2020 Competitive Dance National Championship. The 12-team competition will get underway with preliminaries on March 13.
This year's field includes five automatic qualifiers and seven at-large bids. The automatic qualifiers are determined by the winners of the qualifiers. At-Large positions will be awarded to the teams with the seven highest Year End Scores that did not receive an automatic bid. Year End Scores are calculated by taking 40% of a team's season average plus 60% of a team's average qualifier score. St. Ambrose (Iowa) qualified as both the host and Northeast Qualifier Champion, which allowed for the seventh at-large berth. Click here for a breakdown of the selection process.
Qualifier Highlights
- Defending national champions, Midland (Neb.) will return to the 2020 championship earning an automatic bid as the Northwest Qualifier Champion.
- The Warriors of Midland (Neb.) have won two titles of the three competitive dance national championships: in 2017 and 2019.
- The Northeast Qualifier Champion, St. Ambrose is the only other team with a title, winning the championship in 2018.
- 11 of the 12 qualifiers from the 2019 Competitive Dance Championship return to the big stage this year.
- Eight of the 12 teams have qualified for all four competitive dance championships: Aquinas (Mich.), Baker (Kan.), Grand View (Iowa), Midland (Neb.), Morningside (Iowa), Oklahoma City, Siena Heights (Mich.) and St. Ambrose (Iowa).
- Missouri Baptist returns to the championship for the second time with the first being in 2017.
| Institution | Qualification | Appearances | Last Time | Titles |
| Aquinas (Mich.) | At-Large Bid | 4 | 2019 | 0 |
| Baker (Kan.) | Midwest Qualifier | 4 | 2019 | 0 |
| Grand View (Iowa) | At-Large Bid | 4 | 2019 | 0 |
| Loyola (La.) | At-Large Bid | 3 | 2019 | 0 |
| Midland (Neb.) | Northwest Qualifier Champion | 4 | 2019 | 2 |
| Missouri Baptist | At-Large Bid | 2 | 2017 | 0 |
| Morningside (Iowa) | At-Large Bid | 4 | 2019 | 0 |
| Mount Mercy (Iowa) | At-Large Bid | 2 | 2019 | 0 |
| Oklahoma City | Southwest Qualifier Champion | 4 | 2019 | 0 |
| Point Park (Pa.) | Southeast Qualifier Champion | 3 | 2019 | 0 |
| Siena Heights (Mich.) | At-Large Bid | 4 | 2019 | 0 |
| St. Ambrose (Iowa) | Northeast Qualifier Champion | 4 | 2019 | 1 |
Competition will begin on March 13 in Lee Lohman Arena on the campus of St. Ambrose University (Iowa).Teams at the Competitive Cheer and Dance National Championships will be competing on a level playing field as regular season and qualifier scores are not taken into consideration during the championships.
Schedule of events CLICK HERE
Competitive dance All-Americans will be announced on Tuesday, March 3rd at noon central time.
