The UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe claimed their place on the podium after a five-year drought, ranking third in the UAAP Season 85 cheerdance competition on Dec. 10, Saturday evening, held at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The routine collected 640 total points, almost a century apart from top performing NU’s 723 points. UST exhibited a Lady Gaga-themed routine and executed it with minimal mistakes, only having four penalties — placing them second behind UE’s single penalty deduction.

This iteration of the CDC also broke the curse of three straight fourth-place finishes.

Salinggawi garnered 82.5 points for tumbling, 75 for stunts, 64.5 for tosses, 74 for pyramids, and 348 for their dance routine.

NU Pep breezed through the competition and claimed first place garnering 723 points for their “cheerobics” themed routine.

Defending champions FEU inched one place higher than UST with their Francis Magalona-themed performance, carrying points from their tosses receiving 90.5 points, and only five points shy from the championship, scoring 719 points.

With this performance, Salinggawi is looking forward to what’s in store in the future.

“I am already excited for next season, we actually already have a theme for next season,” said head coach Mark Chaiwalla.

“[Our] mindset is always to push forward and be better than not just what we were [this season] but to be competitive and surpass our competitors,” he added.

With the conclusion of this year’s Cheerdance competition, Sampaloc neighbor NU has crept closer to league-leading UP and UST in CDC crowns, as they have claimed four of the last five titles.