Contact: Sasha Steinberg
STARKVILLE, Miss.—Student spirit groups at Mississippi State soon will begin their 2015-16 season of athletic activities after having collected a number of top honors in summer competition.
The university’s all girls cheerleader squad took first-place awards in both overall and sideline categories, third-place in cheer and fifth in fight song. Also:
—The combined women and men’s group finished in third place overall, as well as second in both cheer and fight song; and
—Pom-squad members earned a sixth-place finish in dance, along with this year’s Superior Trophy.
They were among more than 1,600 participants in the recent weeklong Universal Cheerleaders Association/Universal Dance Association’s College Spirit Camp held at University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. The annual instructional program drew more than 1,200 cheerleaders, 390 dancers and 45 mascots from higher education institutions in 11 states stretching from Nevada to Florida and Louisiana to Pennsylvania.
“It’s great to watch the teams work together to learn gameday skills and encourage each other to do their best,” said MSU Spirit Groups coordinator Melissa Nichols, while adding that the camp also is “a great opportunity for our squad members to visit old friends from other schools and make new friends that they will see throughout the year from across the field.”
Having the opportunity to bond as a team while learning traditional band cheers and stunts has better prepared squads to represent the university during upcoming football and basketball seasons, Nichols said.
“Placing in the gameday competition is a great accomplishment for our cheer squad, as is our pom squad placing in the camp dance competition,” she added.
In addition to MSU and Alabama, regional schools represented included Florida State, Louisiana State and Morehead State universities, along with the universities of Central Florida, Florida, Mississippi and South Florida.
According to UCA organizers, the training seeks to “transform young people into dynamic spirit leaders and help them develop strong leadership skills for life” by promoting “confidence, enthusiasm, responsibility, and motivation” as well as “the rich tradition of cheerleading and fresh spirit building ideas.” For more information, visit www.uca.varsity.com
Nichols and skills coach John Sommer accompanied the squads to Tuscaloosa. The staff also includes dance assistant LaCiana McIntyre.
Learn more about MSU Spirit Groups by visiting spiritgroups.msstate.edu. Also, follow the groups on facebook.com/mstatespirit, twitter.com/mstatespirit, instagram.com/mstatecheer and instagram.com/mstatepomsquad. Nichols may be contacted at 662-325-0350 or mnichols@saffairs.msstate.edu.
MSU is Mississippi’s flagship research university, available online at www.msstate.edu.