2018 UniSport National Div 1 Champions Queensland University of Technology (QUT), are returning to the cheer and dance competition looking to take out the overall title for the second year in a row.

QUT Cheer and Dance president, Rhiannon Zahra, studying a Bachelor of Law and Psychology, is feeling the pressure to go two for two.

“Last year we had a really strong team.”

“This year is a completely different format so we don’t really know what to expect,” Rhiannon said.

Monash University (MON) will return to the competition this year to reclaim their title, having been absent in last year’s Div 1 competition.

“Monash will definitely be our biggest competitor.”

“They were the champions for a couple of years before we took it last year so defending our title is definitely going to be hard,” Rhiannon said.

Rhiannon won’t give be ruling her team out just yet, hopeful they can finish their competition season on a high.

“We have had a really successful competition season so far.”

“I hope we can keep that running,” she said.

Rhiannon mentioned this will be the first time QUT are going head to head with the larger more competitive cheerleading teams across Australia.

“We have taken big steps in improving the program this year.”

“Everyone has been performing well so far.”

“It’s a great experience to come to the Div 1 Nationals to compete against universities outside of Queensland,” Rhiannon said.

QUT will be busy between both their cheerleading and dance teams, with a number of different dance styles also to take the floor.

“We have a jazz, lyrical, hip hop and pom team in our dance category,” Rhiannon added.

The UniSport Nationals Div 1 Cheer and Dance competition will be kicking off Wednesday afternoon at the Gold Coast Sports and Leisure Centre.