ORLANDO, Fla. — The East Mississippi Community College cheerleading team finished sixth in the open co-ed division at the Universal Cheerleaders Association (UCA) this past weekend at the HP Field House within the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
The finish came in EMCC’s first appearance in the event. The team has eight athletes from the area: co-captains Hunter Griffin and Kailey Lavender (Caledonia) and first-year members Aly Chance (Caledonia), Lexi Harden (Oak Hill Academy), Shanae Hunt and Addison Lowery (New Hope High School), Kayla Thomas (Noxubee County High), and Cortez Young (West Point).
Guided by second-year coach Amy Thomas, the EMCC cheer squad made the most of the team’s history-making appearance by earning a sixth-place national finish in the UCA’s Open Coed Division Finals held Saturday night at the HP
“I cannot express how proud I am of this group,” EMCC second-year coach Amy Thomas said. “They’ve worked extremely hard to earn this privilege and enjoy this moment. They made all of the hard work worthwhile, and I’m so proud of all of them for pushing through and being dedicated to making school history and starting tradition here at EMCC.”
As part of its final score, the squad received a 15 of 15 for its crowd tape as prepared in advance by Matt Milner, EMCC’s assistant director of digital media Matt Milner.
Singled out on the UCA’s Twitter account for making “good use of signs and poms” during its performance, EMCC was one of seven schools to compete in the open co-ed division finals. Shelton State (Ala.) C.C. claimed its eighth-consecutive national team championship.
The team of 24 features three returnees and 21 first-year members, including co-captain Olivia Carpenter (Dutchtown, Louisiana) and first-year members Hailey Bowie (Forest), Dancy Clemons (Canton), Hannah Daugherty (Leroy, Alabama), Grace Douzat (West Lauderdale High), Myia Evans (Lake), Jayde Hendry (South Jones High), Logan Lambert (Leake Central High), Anna McKie (Lamar High), Raven Necaise (Hancock High), Kierra Robinson (Quitman), Attia Smith (Nanih Waiya High), Nolin Collymore (St. Martin High), Chance Garner (Ocean Springs), Nick Kosier (Northeast Lauderdale High), and Donald Smith (Billingsley, Alabama).
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