The USU Eastern Spirit Squad attended the NCA/NDA Collegiate Championships in Daytona, Florida earlier this month, making it the first time in history for a cheer team and dance team to represent Utah State University (Logan and Price campuses) at this national competition.
There were a total of 355 college dance and cheer teams in attendance from almost every state in the nation, making it the largest competition that the National Dance and Cheer Alliance has ever seen. Everywhere you went, it was flooded with cheerleaders and dancers. Netflix, VarsityTV, ESPN and additional media crews were covering the event. Thousands of spectators filled the venues for the competition, creating an energetic atmosphere for these athletes. It is a dancer’s and cheerleader’s dream come true to be at this competition and to compete on the infamous Daytona Beach Bandshell, an iconic symbol of hard work, dedication and determination.
The cheer team, coached by Kelley Bradley and Lily Snow, competed in the Advanced Small Co-ed JuCo division and placed fifth overall. The dance team, coached by Brandi Taylor-Johansen and Brenna Bogdin, competed in both the jazz and hiphop categories in the JuCo division. They placed fourth in hiphop and took the third-place trophy home in jazz, just two points shy of a national championship.
We are so proud of these student athletes. They represented our program, our school and our community with the utmost respect and class. They worked so hard to get to this competition while simultaneously working game days, fundraising, guest performing, helping with service projects and putting in the work in the classroom. Everywhere we turned, we had people ask who we were and where we came from. We took pride in telling them we are USU Eastern from Price, Utah!
We would like to personally thank Greg Dart, Jess Brinkerhoff and Jessica Brinkerhoff for all of their help and support! We couldn’t have done it without you all!