Aggies Defeated Bearkats 19-16 in “Stunt Competition”
The Texas A&M Aggies defeated Sam Houston State University (SHSU) Bearkats All-Girl Squad by the score of 19-16 in the “Stunt Competition that was hosted at the Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum on the campus of SHSU on Sunday.
The stunt competition focuses on the technical and skill aspects of cheerleading. It is recognized as an “emerging sport” by the NCAA.
They are four quarters in the competition . The first quarter consist of partner stunts, the second quarter is pyramids and tosses, the third quarter is group jumps and tumbling and the fourth quarter is where each team perform a two minute and two second team performance.
The first three quarters consists of three rounds each where both teams compete head –to-head on the floor.
In each round, they perform one of six pre-choreographed routines. A team with possession of each round will determined which one of the routines they will perform.
The judges ranks the teams of each round based on execution of each performance. The team with the best execution will be awarded first place with two points while the second place team will be awarded one point.
A team may forfeit a round if they are unable to perform the necessary skills in the routine. If that happens, the other team can still perform the routine and either get one point or two points.
In the first quarter, the Aggies swept through all of the three rounds and took a commanding 6-3 lead.
In the second quarter, the Bearkats made some strides in the routine and took the first round to cut the lead to 6-5. However, the Aggies continued with their domination and took the second and third rounds to extend their lead to 10-6.
Both teams tied in the first round on the third quarter with the Aggies maintaining their lead to 12-8. Despite the tie, the Aggies took the second and third round to increase their lead to 16-10.
In the fourth quarter, each team performed a full routine. A&M couldn’t hold their pyramids fully, while the Bearkats hold the pyramid flawlessly. A drop pyramid weighs more than a drop stunt because of the degree of difficulty it brings to the whole routine.
Even though the Bearkats took the fourth quarter, it was too little too late as the Aggies went on to win it by the score of 19-16.
We laid off a little bit on the first three quarters, All-Girl Co-Captain and All-American Andrea Dearing said. “We focused hard on our nationals routine and it showed even though we won the fourth quarter.”
Though they lost, they feel that today’s competition will help them to improve their routine as they get set for the NCA/NDA National Cheer Competion that will be held in Daytona Beach, Florida from April 11-15.
“It was really important for us to get in front of the crowd and have a lot of energy and work out some kinks, Dearing said.”
Panthers knocks off Bearkats 78-69
The University of Northern Iowa Panthers advanced to the Final Four of the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament as they defeated Sam Houston State Bearkats by the score of 78-69.
The tournament was Bearkats first post-season appareance in the 48th year history of the women’s basketball program. They were knocked out of the first round of the Southland Conference Basketball Tournament last Tuesday that squashed any chances for them to make the NCAA Tournament.
The Panthers started the game on a 5-0 run behind K.K. Armstrong’s three-pointer and a basket by Amber Kirschbaum.
The Bearkats answered with a 5-1 run of their own to cut the lead to 8-5. They continued their moment when Sequeena Thomas and Zoe Tucker hit back to back baskets to help the Kats take the lead by the score of 9-8.
The Bearkats continued on a 9-3 run to increase the lead to 18-11.
The Panthers went on a 9-4 run to pull within a 22-20 lead. But a pair of three pointers by Britni Martin and Jasmine Johnson helped the Bearkats extend the lead to 28-20.
The Panther exploded with a 12-4 run with Armstrong scoring 6 of those points to tie the game at 32.
But Thomas scored back to back baskets to close the half with the Bearkats leading 36-32.
It seemed as if the Bearkats was in control of the game as they started the second half on a 4-2 run to increase the lead to 40-35.
But the Panthers mounted a 8-5 run behind three straight baskets by Katelin Oney to cut the lead to 46-45.
Brittni Donaldson made a three pointer on the next possession to give the Panthers a 48-45.
Martin’s three-pointer tied the score at 48.
The Panthers answered behind Rachel Madrigal’s three-pointer that gave the Panthers a 51-48 lead and they would maintain the lead for the rest of the game and win it by the score of 78-69.
Armstrong finished the game with 30 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for the Panthers. Oney contributed with 20 points, 5 assists and 2 rebounds.
Martin led the Bearkats with 19 points and 4 rebounds while Thomas was second on the team with 13 points and 9 rebounds.
Cheerleaders’ Preparation For Daytona
by Cheval John
While many students were out on spring break, the SHSU All-Girl/Co-ed Cheerleaders, along with the Orange Pride Dance Team were here at SHSU all week practicing for the NCA/NDA National Competition that will be held in Daytona Beach, Florida from April 11-15.
The NCA/NDA competition is based on many factors that includes technique, stability of stunts/strength, flow of routine, degree of difficulty, perfection of routine and overall impression.
For the first time this year, both squads will be competing together as the All-Girl Squad moved up to Division I in the NCA in competion.
Prior to that, the All-Girl Squad competed at the intermediate level in the NCA and have come a long way since then.
Though it will be new for them, they believe that competing with the co-ed squad is bringing them together as a family.
“With co-ed going with us, it’s a whole another team to support us and another team for us to support,” All-Girl co-captain Andrea Dearing said. “A big part of nationals is having a crowd cheering you on and with the co-ed being there, it’s going to bring ten times more energy.”
Though the co-ed team receives scholarships, the all-girl team doesn’t receive any sholarships, but they raise the money through sponsorships and each member on the team has to have a minimum of $250 in order to remain on the squad.
The stereotypical view of cheerleaders is that they are at sporting events to bring extra school spirit ot the the crowds who are attending the games and to cheer the team to victory.
What they don’t see is the dedication and the hard work that goes into being a cheerleader.
“We cheer during the football season, volleyball season and the basketball season and on top of that, we have nationals,” Dearing said. “We put a lot of hard work and a lot of effort into this.”
With school about to be back in session next week, they believe that it is all worth it in the end because of the preparation that they put into perfecting their routine.
“This is where we want to be,” Dearing said. “While there in school, we are going to be in Daytona competing and hopefully getting a ring and that is more than any spring break trip is worth.”
Bearkat Bowling Push Toward NCAA Championship
Sam Houston State Bearkat bowling team defeated Grambling State Tigers on Sunday by a total of 1019-694 pins.
The match was a Quad Baker in which each team had 10 frames to get as many pins as possible in a four game format in order to win in opposite to a team winning each game.
“We are happy with the way we bowled,” Bearkat bowler Dayna Galanski said. “It was a big improvement for us.”
The Bearkats are currently ranked No. 9 in NCAA Division I competition .
This weekend they will be heading to Smyrna, Tennessee to participate in the Music City Classic.
The tournament will be the final one of the regular season and the most important one as it will be their last chance to showcase their talent in order to get back to NCAA Bowling Championships that will be held in Cleveland, Ohio from April 12-14.
“Every win is a step forward and every loss is a step back,” head coach Brad Hagen said.
Always Look For The Positive In The Negative
by Cheval John
“She is as good as anybody in the state of Texas. She is everything that everybody wants and we are lucky to have her.”
Those were the comments of Sam Houston State Bearkat head softball coach Bob Brock after the Bearkats (3-13) run ruled Prarie View A&M Tigers by the score of 11-0 in the first game of the double header to get their first win of the season.
The person that he was referring to was first baseman Kim Damian.
In the last 16 games, Damian has batted .358 with a career high 4 home runs and 11 RBI.
“I basically came up with a different approach and try to get ahead in the count,” Damian said. “With coach Brock switching me to bat first, I get a better selection on pitching compared to when I was batting third.”
The junior from Angleton, led the charge in that first game against the Tigers, going 3 for 3 with a double, a two-run triple and a grand slam that capped a 6-RBI game.
“Kim is having a great year,” Brock said. “I made a change in putting her at lead-off and she has really took off.
Damian started playing softball since she was five years old.
In addition to softball, she played volleyball and basketball while she was in middle school.
“Playing volleyball and basketball kept me in shape,” Damian said. “Especially with basketball, there’s a lot of running and it helped when it came to softball.”
Though those sports helped, softball was her main sport because she was really good at it and she pursued it full time when she entered Angleton High School.
During that time, Angleton won the district championship in 2006. She improved tremendously as she was a Brazoria County and District MVP after leading them to a Texas 4A state runner-up finish and another district championship in 2009. She was named to the first team All-State and All-District that same year.
She also played for club teams, the Texas Connection and Texas Sting.
She received many offers from different universities, but it was a no-brainer as she choose to play at Sam Houston State.
“I always thought of coming to Sam Houston State, mainly because it was closer to home,” Damian said.
In her first year, she had a batting average of .195 with two home runs and 6 RBIs and had a total of 17 hits.
She improved in her sophomore year with a .347 batting average, with 3 home runs and 24 RBIs. She totaled 43 hits during that season.
Defensively, she was error-free at first base with 331 putouts and eight assists in 339 chances.
Though she has been successful during her softball career, she always know that her biggest fans will always be her parents.
“I owe a lot to them because they were always there for me,” Damian said. “They always backing me up no matter what happens in a game, whether I do good or bad. I am thankful for them being there for me.”
The Bearkats will play one game against Liberty University and a double-header against University at Buffalo at Bearkat Softball Complex on Wednesday. Start time is at 2 p.m.
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