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.”

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.”

To be successful, you got to have quality preparation. For the SHSU Orange Pride Dance Team, their preparation is at Bearkat sporting events.

The team have won back-to-back National Championships and will be going for their third at the National Dance Association (NDA) Collegiate Cheer and Dance Championship in Daytona Beach, Florida from April 11-15.

“It’s bigger than I can describe,” senior co-captain Hannah Shields said. “We have all of the talent and have been working very hard to be where we are.”

The team is part of the Spirit Programs under the Department of Student Activites that includes the All-Girl Cheer Squad, the Co-Ed Cheer Squad and Sammy The Bearkat Mascot program.

The team trains everyday in preparation for the football season, the basketball season, special events and for the NDA competion that is held every year in Daytona Beach.

They placed first in the NDA National Competition in 1998 and 2005. In 2008, the team came up short in the competition and it taught the team a very important lesson about hard work.

“We had a big wake up call and had to step up our game,” Shields said.

After the season, they hired Sarah Pritchard as their head coach. Under her leadership, the team improved on their technique and learned new dance routines that helped them win back-to-back national championships at the NDA competition in 2010 and 2011.

“They have a lot of pride in Sam Houston and the dance program,” Spirit Programs Coordinator Brian McColpin said. “They want to go out there and win for their coach.”

They know that the competition are aiming at prevent them from winning their third straight championship. But for the dance team, they are more determine to achieve their goals because of the coaching and the leadership that each person brings to the team.

“I want to leave here with three rings on my finger,” Shields said. “I chose not to get a senior ring because I want another national championship.”

Over the weekend, the Sam Houston State Bearkat Bowling Team finished fourth at the Big Red Tournament in Lincoln, Nebraska. They are now 53-26 for the season and are currently ranked fourth in the new National Ten Pins Coaches Association media poll.

“You always have high expectations and because of the variables, we cannot take anything for granted,” head bowling coach Brad Hagen said. “We just needed to go out there and make shots.”

The process to get the bowling program at SHSU started in 2009 when the Southland Conference wanted to add an additional sports in order to have a balance between the men’s and women’s sports.

Stephen F. Austin State University became the first school in the conference to start a bowling program. It made the decision easy for athletic director Bobby Williams to add bowling as the 15th sport to the SHSU program.

Once the program was incorporated, they hired Hagen as the first head bowling coach.

He worked tirelessly to bring in top quality talent who would be successful in the game and in the classroom while at the same time preparing for the inaugural season.

Since they were a first year program, they were picked to finish next to last in the league, but instead made it to the NCAA Bowling Championships in Detroit, Michigan, USA, becoming the only first year program in history to make the championships. They finished 7th in the championships to complete their inagaural season.

Now they are determined to get back to the big dance as they started the 2011-12 season strong with a third place finishes at the Greater Ozark Invitational, the New Jersey Jamboree and with wins at the Lumberjack Invitational and their own Track Kat Klash Tournament.

“When we come together as a team, we rely on each other,” sophomore Neishka Cardona said after winning the Kat Klash Tournament. “We win as a team, we lose as a team.”

Here are some of the highlights from the Kat Klash Tournament on BowlTV.com.

Frisco, Texas–

For the first time in as many years, the Sam Houston State Bearkat football team are given students, staff and alumni something to cheer about.

The first ever championship pep rally was held at Nylo Hotel on Friday night. The event was open to alumni, donors, students and friends of Sam Houston State University. It allowed those who have graduated, but have not been at the university, to reconnect and see what has been happen since graduating.

“I have never seen anything like this before,” Leah Mulligan, Ph.D., director of Student Activities said. “There is so much enthusiasm for the team. This is how all football games should be.”

The pep rally was organized jointly by the Office of the President, the Alumni Association, Student Services and the Athletic Department. Current and former Bearkat students-athletes have been amazed at the turn out of the event and understand the impact that the football team is bringing to the university

“This is so much fun,” Carli Kolbe, former Bearkat volleyball player said. “We really want to be supportive and are happy to see this happen for them.”

“It’s really exciting because they are so many fans here,” Maggie Collum, director of university events said. “This is one of the first steps to get people back on board. It’s awesome!