The Lionettes won the first national title in the university’s dance program history in the Division I Hip Hop finals for the 2018 season. File Photo/The Lion’s Roar
The university’s dance team, the Lionettes and Cheerleading team, competed at the 2018 Universal Cheerleading Association & Universal Dance Association College Cheerleading and Dance Team National Championships.
The Lionettes placed first in the Division I Hip Hop finals, winning a national title for the first time in the program’s history. The team also placed seventh in the Jazz portion. Spirit Coordinator Paige Hall explained how the performances done by the university’s spirit squad at nationals were different from their traditional routines performed at school functions.
“Each routine for completion is a max of two minutes,” said Hall. “Our hip-hop routine had multiple songs with a variety of styles. The routines we do at games usually are one or two songs and focuses on entertainment value.”
Hall described the focus of the Lionette’s national’s routine.
“We wanted to do a fun, entertaining routine, so the theme was a girl mix,” said Hall.
Dance team member Re’Jon Alexander, a junior kinesiology major expressed how it felt when she found out they had placed first.
“Is this real life?” said Alexander. “We’ve always had ‘when we win’ in our vocabulary, but when it really happened, it was surreal.”
The UCA competition’s divided into different divisions based on the university’s size, and this year they added NCAA. They started Game Day Competition, where competitors were able to display all their sideline routines. The university’s cheer team earned bronze in the UCA’s Game Day Competition. Skills Coach for the university’s cheerleaders David Mayeux explained just how large the competition was.
“The National College Cheerleading Championship is considered to be the most prestigious cheerleading competition in the world, actually,” said Mayeux. “There are probably two or three hundred teams there. Every year, it attracts thousands of spectators.”
Mayeux gave his opinion on why this new portion, Game Day Competition of the UCA, is important.
“It’s nice because ultimately that is what cheerleading is about anyway- what we do on the sidelines for our athletics,” said Mayeux.
Trenee Calamia, a senior elementary education major and university cheerleader voiced how all the team members were aware how serious this trip was for the two teams.
“We called it our ‘business trip’ this year,” said Calamia. “We strictly went for the national’s competition and not really for Disney, and our coaches made sure we knew that. We actually never referred to us going to ‘Disney’ because it was better for us to say we were going to ‘Nationals.’”
Mayeux described what he believed set the team apart this year from their other competitors.
“All the teams that go there and attend this, they all work hard, and they’re all after the same thing,” said Mayeux. “I think what set our team apart was their determination to be successful when they got there. I’m not saying other teams weren’t determined to succeed. However, this team set a goal at the beginning of the year to continue to work hard throughout the year so that when we did go, we would come home successful. They maintained that all year long and even when they got there, they stayed focused on what their ultimate goal was. That’s one of the reasons they were able to come home with the medal.”
Lionette Bailey Boudreaux, a junior kinesiology major described the moment her team was announced the national champions.
“You sit there and wait and hope you do not hear your name until they announce the National Champion,” said Boudreaux. “Once they got to the top two teams, my heart was pounding. When they announced second place, and it wasn’t us, all I could do was just smile and scream of excitement. I was in total shock, but it was such a joyous moment that I will remember forever. It’s then that you know all of the hard work and dedication you put in was worth this amazing accomplishment.”
Mayeux explained how this national win has brought accolades to the university and its staff and helped with enrollment.
“It definitely brings a level of respect not just to the spirit program at Southeastern but also to the university itself,” said Mayeux. “Anytime you have spirit organizations, cheerleaders or dancers travel to a national competition and place high like Southeastern does consistently, it adds a level of respect for the program, for the coaches, for the administration and for the school. Another aspect to it is, when you have teams go to a competition and do well consistently, it attracts students that to Southeastern. Maybe they want to be athletes in a spirt organization.”
Using the momentum from their achievements at nationals, the spirit squads will continue to practice skills and support basketball and baseball until the seasons end. Then they will switch gears and begin preparing for their selection process that will begin around May to select their new team.