Daytona Beach - Georgia State sits in third place after Thursday's opening competition and advances to Friday's final round at the 2012 NCA Collegiate National Championships.

GSU will compete at 3:45 p.m. Friday in the championship round.

The Panthers of Coach Darryl Lyons are competing with 10 teams in the Cheer Small Coed Advanced Division I.

Five teams were eliminated after day one's competions and the final five advanced to Friday.

Last year, the team ranked 10th out of 21 teams in the Intermediate division, which is a restricted skill division for teams that are new to competition and do not have the skills to compete with the larger and more experienced teams. This year, Coach Lyons felt that the team was ready to move up to the Advanced division because of the increase in talent and experience on the team.

The official NCA site with video-streaming and tapes, as well as standings provides complete coverage. Click Here.

Results from NCA Nationals:

Central Arkansas - Southland Conference -  Judges score of 9.260

UALR - Sun Belt Conference - 9.008

Georgia State - CAA -  8.980

Mercer - Atlantic-Sun  - 8,828

Stephen F. Austin - Southland - 8.765

Eliminated

Maine - America East/CAA football

Texas-Arlington - Southland

Albany - America East

Western Carolina - Southern

Boston University - America East

Georgia State will hold tryouts for the 2012-13 teams next weekend, April 20-22 at the GSU Sports Arena. For details, CLICK HERE.