Press Release
Tryouts for dance and cheer teams this week
PRICE, UTAH— Utah State University Eastern will be adding dance to its Spirit Squad for the fall 2016 semester. The campus has not had a dance team for 10 years, and is excited to bring the program back and enhance the performances at athletic and other events. Brandi Taylor has been hired to direct USU Eastern’s Spirit Squad, which includes both the dance and cheer teams.
Brandi has been passionately involved in dance for over 28 years and has been teaching in the dance community for 15. She graduated from the University of Utah receiving her B.S. in Health Sciences and then proceeded to obtain her teaching license in secondary education. She taught health at Cottonwood High School and coached for the award winning Chaparrals for 8 years, a program she helped implement in 2005. She led them to win many Region Titles, ranking in the top five for 4A and 5A State competitions and won numerous National Titles.
Now, working as the the new Utah State University Eastern Spirit Squad Director and Dance Team Artistic Director she is excited for the opportunities that come with working on a collegiate level. Some of her personal accolades include: Utah All-State Drill Member, Deseret News Dance Sterling Scholar Finalist, Utah Miss Drill Team Top Ten Finalist, twotime Ririe-Woodbury Step-Up Scholarship recipient, Utah State Academic Scholarship, 2009 UDDA 4A Coach of the Year, and 2011 UDDA 5a Coach of the year.
“I’m very excited to be a part of USU Eastern and to help reintroduce the dance team on campus. We want to create an exciting program that is respected throughout the state.” said Taylor of hew new role. “I’ll be working to integrate both cheer and dance performances into the campus athletics, and both teams will work together to make the games more fun.”
Both teams will participate in on-campus athletic events starting this fall for soccer, volleyball, and basketball, and both teams have the opportunity to compete in NJCAA cheer and dance competitions in the future.
Tryouts for both cheer and dance will be held on Saturday April 16 in the Bunnell-Dmitrich Athletic Center (BDAC). Cheer team tryouts will begin at 9:00 am and dance team tryouts will begin at 2:00pm. Any high school seniors, current USU Eastern students, or potential transfer students interested in either team are encouraged to attend the tryouts. Information about tryouts may be found at usueasternathletics.com, and finding Spirit Squad under the Sports menu.