Jan. 21, 2009- Over the weekend, the Lindenwood Lion Line dance team successfully defended its Hip Hop championship at the 2009 Universal Dance Association College Dance Championships. The Lion Line also finished third in the Open Dance competition to complete their best ever showing at the national event, which took place on Jan. 16-18 at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla.

In the Open Hip Hop competition, Lindenwood earned a score of 736.5 points out of 800, easily winning its second straight national championship by 22 points over St. Thomas.

Members of that Hip Hop routine were: Krista Blankenship, Terra Busch, Lauren Chastain, Brooke Crider, Liz Hamilton, Maggie Heinemann, Brooke Hoepfner, Courtney Kassabaum, Angela Koehler, Brigette Michael, Chastin Oliver, Nikki Rose, Leah Shipley, Devan Smith, and Amanda Willard.

In the Open Dance competition, the Lion Line recorded a score of 711.5 which was good for third-place, tying the best finish for that program in that dance division. Lindenwood was just 2.5 points shy of a runner-up finish.

Lion Line members that performed in that dance were: Blankenship, Chastain, Crider, Hamilton, Heinemann, Hoepfner, Kassabaum, Koehler, Michael, Oliver, Rose, Shipley, Smith, Ashley Wahl, and Willard.

Other members of the Lion Line squad that served as alternates were Leah Chalabiani, Brooke Fiquette, Jessica Jacob, Emma McDaniel, Kim O’Brien, Ashley Schulte, and Beth Westrich.

Both routines will be aired on ESPN2 on February 22 at 1 p.m. and March 19 at 3 p.m. The performances can also be seen on the internet at www.varsity.com.