NEW ORLEANS – The Saint Xavier University cheer team began the 2025-26 season, their first competition since 2019, with a strong start, finishing third out of seven squads with a total score of 77.87 at the two-day Battle in the Big Easy hosted by Xavier University of Louisiana last Thursday and Friday at the Convocation Center in New Orleans, La. The host XULA had the top overall average score at 94.20.

• On Thursday, the Cougars competed in a group with Xavier-Louisiana, Our Lady of the Lake University (Texas), Texas A&M University Texarkana and University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy in St. Louis (Mo.). SXU was second in the pod with a score of 78.85 behind the mark of 81.48 from the Gold.
• In the second grouping of the day on Thursday, Saint Xavier competed against XULA, Simpson University (Calif.), Langston University (Okla.) and Texas A&M Texarkana. The Cougars finished third in the field with a score of 70.65 while Xavier-Louisiana had the top score at 85.22.
• Friday, SXU faced off against the Gold in the morning coming away with a score of 75.28. XULA logged a score of 92.80.
• After all the group scored were tabulated, Saint Xavier placed third behind Xavier-Louisiana and University of Tennessee Southern, who had a score of 83.30.

Saint Xavier prepares for the American Midwest Conference (AMC) Championships that take place on Friday, March 6 in Columbia, Mo. hosted by Columbia College (Mo.).