DAYTONA, Fla. – The University of Pikeville dance team has claimed its first national championship.
 
The Bears won the NAIA Jazz Division of the NCA and NDA Collegiate Cheer and Dance Championship on Friday.
 
And now, the rest of the story: The Bears won the title competing with only two dancers.
 
Alexis and Aliya Osborne are twin sisters from Prestonsburg, and took down the rest of the field to win the national championship.
 
"I'm really proud of them," said Coach Hanna Case. "This wasn't initially the plan, but we decided to just come on down and see how it went. We're really glad we did."
 
This was especially significant for Case, an alumnus of UPike who was a talented dancer in her own right. After graduating, she was an assistant coach for three seasons before moving to head coach in 2018.
 
"I've wanted this for a long time," she said.
 
Case was on the first squad to compete in this competition, finishing fourth. They've been close – earning a runner-up finish a year ago – but had never made it to the top.
 
All of that ended on Friday afternoon.
 
Only three teams advanced to today's finals, and the Osbornes held a slim one-point lead when the day began.
 
"We talked about it, and how we didn't want to hold our lead – we wanted to expand it," said Case.
 
That's how it played out too.
 
The Bears won with a score of 85.3143, winning the title by outdistancing a familiar foe – the University of the Cumberlands – who finished second with a score of 82.4857.
 
St. Thomas (Fla.) was third at 80.1143.
 
Case was joined by her longtime assistant, Brooklyn Newsome. Like Case, Newsome is a UPike alum and former dancer who was captain of the squad and was a 19-year veteran of the University of Pikeville Studio of Dance.