BROOKVILLE, N.Y. — The LIU cheer and dance teams as well as mascot Finley earned a national championship in Orlando back in January.

And in the Gold Coast Cinema on campus on Saturday, state senator Jack Martins recognized that achievement by presenting the teams with a legislative resolution from the State of New York.

"This doesn't happen by accident," Martins said during the presentation. "You need to have a plan. You need to have a coordinated effort. And you need to have a vision as to how that's going to play out. And then you need to have people who actually are going to buy into the concept."

The Sharks team won the Open Spirit Game Day division at the UCA/UDA national championships at ESPN's Wide World of Sports.

LIU produced a final-round raw score of 184.1333, topping runner-up St. John's (181.7333) and third-place South Dakota (179.5333).

It marked the first time the LIU cheerleading and dance teams performed together in the competition, along with mascot Finley, as part of the new open program competition.

"I am so proud of this team's growth and to bring home LIU Spirit's first national title in program history," dance coach Kristen Greto said. "Working alongside [cheerleading coach] TJ [Bettineschi] and our assistant coaches during combined practices really brought dance and cheer together. Our student-athletes trusted our visions and put on a great show. I'm very excited to see how the team continues in future years."