Best in the country. It’s just that simple.

The dancers scored their big victory last April, taking home the trophy in the newly created Spirit Rally category at the Collegiate Cheer and Dance Championships in Daytona Beach, Fla. That win put a capstone on the team’s rise from campus club to national powerhouse who you can see at any number of games where Toro athletes compete.

It also came as a validation for Head Coach Cilecia Foster, who founded the dance team after graduating from CSUDH in 2006 and has led it ever since. “We’ve been competing nationally for a long time, and we could never quite break the top 10,” Foster said.

Anika Vega, an elementary education major and the Dance Team’s gameday captain, teaches dance in her spare time and hopes one day to audition for a spot on the Los Angeles Rams cheerleading team. She noted that the category they won showcases the team’s regular, game day routines—a point of pride, especially with the increasing attention on CSUDH’s successful athletics programs. “I think it shows that the way we represent our university every day is the same way we compete,” she says.

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