They can be seen courtside at every Oakland University basketball game, but the OU dance team does more than just perform a routine at halftime.

This year, the OU dance team competed at the Universal Dance Association College Cheerleading and Dance Team National Championships, which were held in January at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando.

“Nationals were something we wanted to do to prove to the university and to people at the university that we are here because this is what we want to do,” senior Melissa Sochacki said. “We’re representing our school in the best way we know how, and that is to dance.”

The team finished sixth in the 2011 Division I pom competition, which was its best finish since 2002.

“It’s amazing being able to compete at a national level, especially when you are in the finals,” senior captain Amy Shaw said. “The pressure is really tough, but it’s so much fun. Being a senior captain, it was an amazing experience for my last year, and I was very proud of the team and how we represented our school.”

While the team is used to performing in front of large crowds, a few members found the National Championships to be a unique experience.

“It’s in Disney World and on ESPN — there are people everywhere,” Sochacki said. “It’s like the O’rena times 10. You get off the floor and you just feel like you left it all out there. To come back from that with a trophy is really cool.”

In addition to dancing, the team’s community involvement was another factor in its success.

“This year we did ‘Dancing in the Streets’ in Rochester, we attend the pep rallies and the Grizz kids club and we do a lot of stuff around campus as well,” Sochacki said. “Community involvement is part of your score at Nationals. There is a spirit tape where you send in a tape of your game-day performances, community involvement, pumping up the crowds and things like that.”

When not performing in competitions, the 19-member dance team has the responsibility of boosting the spirit of the fans attending each home basketball game.

“We are focused on being the spirit squad and on being there for the basketball team,” Sochacki said. “That’s our number one priority, always.”

Sochacki said one of the most exciting experiences for the OU dance team this year was cheering on the men’s basketball team as it captured the Summit League championship.

“That was a really big thing, and just to see the success the basketball team had, it’s cool to be a part of it,” Sochacki said. “The crowds are always really kind and compliment us. They love having us there, so we love being there.”

Performing at the last home game was also an exciting moment, especially for the four seniors on the team.

“The team is like my family and they mean the world to me,” Shaw said. “Even though the last men’s home game was pretty emotional, I don’t know how to explain it besides that it was an amazing feeling being out on that floor performing one last time.”

Sochacki said an important goal for the team this year was to create clean and professional looking routines in preparation for the competition.

“Our technique was a lot about turns. This year we really wanted to amp up those as well as our leaps and jumps,” Sochacki said. “Everything just needed to be bigger and better. We wanted people to look at us and say ‘wow, they’re not a joke.’ We want to keep that performance quality out there.”

The team did not go to the National Championships in either of the last two years, and it used the desire to return as motivation heading into this year.

“Our big strength was we all had the dedication and drive to make ourselves better,” Sochacki said. “We wanted to prove to people by going to Nationals that we are a part of the athletic community at Oakland.”

The team channeled its motivation into improving both dance style and technique.

“Our team is really good at hip-hop and multiple aspects of technique,” Shaw said. “I can say that we are all extremely hard workers, all of us just love to dance and perform. It’s our passion — there’s no feeling like it.”

While basketball season only lasts from November until March, the dance team has nearly a year-round schedule.

The team begins practice in the summer and continues until the basketball season concludes. The team practices twice each week for three or four hours, and the dancers are also expected to do individual conditioning.

“As soon as Nationals hit we will go four hours a day, five days a week,” Sochacki said. “It gets pretty intense.”

In the past, the team has held auditions in April, however this year they have been delayed indefinitely.

“We don’t know when auditions will be held yet,” Sochacki said. “We just lost our coach, so they had a meeting with the athletic department regarding the future of the dance team.”

More information on the OU dance team can be found at www.ougrizzlies.com/dance/oakl-dance.html or on the team’s Facebook page.