Avila Dance wins its ninth and 10th national championships

Avila Dance won its ninth and 10th national championships in program history on April 12 at the 2026 College Classic at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando.

 The Glitter Girls will head back home with two more national titles in 2026 after winning their sixth-consecutive NAIA Jazz National Championship and the NAIA Hip Hop National Championship for the second-straight year and the fourth time in the last five seasons.

 Avila blew away the competition in both categories. Winning their sixth-straight jazz national title with a score of 89.86 – 5.02 points ahead of the second-place finishers – “I pushed them hard because I knew what they could do,” said Avila’s Hall of Fame Head Coach Cindy Freeman. “I knew what they were capable of.”

 Avila’s jazz routine was performed to “Incomplete” by James Bay, a performance that was perfected throughout the entire season.

 In the hip-hop division, Avila’s 89.30 score defeated the NAIA National Champions, St. Ambrose, by more than three points – 86.22. Freeman said, “Our hip-hop performance may have been the most incredible moment of my career because they found their potential.”

 “We have a very young team so you never know how they’ll handle the pressure,” she noted. “Everything I have ever asked them to do, they’ve done. I knew they had it in them. We challenged them a lot this year and they pushed through it.”

 The Eagles entered the finals in second place following the preliminary round where they scored 85.66, compared to St. Ambrose’s 86.80.

 After Saturday’s prelims, Freeman’s squad nearly pulled an all-nighter to perfect their routines before Sunday’s finals.

 “The team worked so hard all season, but especially this week to take it to another level. I would put my girls up against any team as far as their work ethic,” said Freeman.

 One of the individual highlights from this season comes from Avila’s lone senior, Victoria Buckner. Getting her degree from Avila in just three years, Buckner will wrap up her Avila Dance career with five combined national championships.

 “Tori is one of the most phenomenal, physically strong athletes I’ve ever seen in my life,” Freeman remarked about the athlete who has been in her dance family for nearly her entire life. “She’s a beast – she’s focused, she’s strong, she’s respectful and she is a wonderful kid from a wonderful family.”

 Practicing nearly year-round, Freeman and the Glitter Girls will return to Kansas City with two more pieces of hardware and more banners to hang on the walls of Mabee Fieldhouse.

 “It’s been a great year; this team did what they were capable of and it showed.”