FULLERTON, Calif. - Both the Carroll College Cheer and Dance teams officially kicked off their second competitive seasons in program history on Saturday, competing in several competitions as part of the Royal Rumble Invitational hosted by Hope International University.

The Carroll Dance team began their year with back-to-back duals against the host institution. The NAIA modified their scoring system for the 2026 season, with scores now based off a 100-point system.

The Saints saw growth from the opening dual to the night cap. They began the day with a 90.5-86.5 loss to the Royals, and then managed to improve their score in the second competition to 89.1 - a new program record. HIU scored 93.7 in the second comp to sweep the evening.

The Carroll Cheer team was very busy on their side of the action, with a trio of separate competitions - duals with both HIU and Simpson, as well as a mutli-team competition between all three schools.

In the multi, the host school Royals ran away with a win, scoring 84.4 points. Simpson took second place with a score of 67.4, and the Saints finished with a team score of 60.72.

Like the Dance team, the Saints continued to improve as the day wore on. Carroll upped their team score to 66.8 in their dual with Hope International, but the Royals came out on top with a score of 76.9. Carroll's early-season best came against Simpson, where they scored 67.15, falling in a tight contest to the Redhawks at 70.5 points.

Both teams have a solid starting point for the rest of the season, competing against new competition with valuable feedback from judges to work on as the year progresses. Both teams will return to action on February 7, this time at home inside the PE Center for the Halo Cup.