The crown is yet to come home to España.

The UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe failed to clinch a spot in the podium, landed in fifth rank with a score of 634.5 points in the UAAP Season 87 Cheerdance Competition on Saturday, Dec. 1, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.

Salinggawi’s “Batang 90’s” themed routine collected 74 points for stunts, 77 points for tosses, 78 points for their pyramid stunts, and 347 points for the dance routine with an 11 point deduction.

NU Pep Squad’s “NUniverse” routine dethroned FEU and amassed 713 points to reclaim the CDC crown.

Adamson Pep Squad returned to the podium claiming silver with 679.5 points in their “KARAOKeyToTheTop” dance routine.

FEU Cheering Squad completed the podium with their “FEUrozen” dance routine with 650 points.

UST missed out on fourth place held by the UE Pep Squad by only six points.

Room for improvements

Salinggawi head coach Mark Chaiwalla admitted that other squads brought tougher competition this season.

“‘Yong mga pumasok [sa podium], they are really deserving. They have really good cheer elements,” told TomasinoWeb.

“[To] us coaches, it teaches us, it taught us a lot on how to play with the [other] elements,” Chaiwalla added.

Despite the fifth place finish, Chaiwalla noted that the dance routine remained Salinggawi’s strongest suit.

“When you look at the scoresheet, we’re still up there when it comes to dance. It is just sometimes because of how the scoresheet is structured you wouldn’t be able to clearly understand what aspect of dance to improve on,” he said.

Salinggawi’s coaches provided emotional support and reminded them to keep their heads high after the underwhelming placement.

“I wouldn’t lie, I feel a bit low-spirited at the moment. But it’s the nature of the sport. I mean that’s it you’ve done your best, You have no choice but to accept, move forward, train harder, and be better. That’s the only choice,” he said.

“We will definitely look at the scoresheet deeper so that we will know how to attack our feet better next season,” Chaiwalla added.

Salinggawi has claimed one silver and two bronze finishes since Chaiwalla’s appointment in 2017.