Blood,sweat, tears and injured bodies were all evident when the Southern University”Powerhouse” recently competed at the Ninth Annual Black College NationalCheerleading and Dance Team Championship.
The”Powerhouse” consisted of four on campus dance/cheer organizations. Thecheerleaders (Co-Ed and All-Girl), the Gold n’ Bluez dancers and theSmith-Brown Memorial Look Dancers.
“Thecompetition was exciting and gave me a good experience in the competitivefield,” said Kirsten Long, a sophomore majoring in psychology from Alexandria.From the time that practice started for the “Powerhouse” until minutes beforethe actual performances, the athletes had suffered injuries includingexhaustion, twisted ankles, twisted knees and even a burst stomach muscle.
Thecompetition was held February 20-22 in Atlanta. The “Powerhouse” pulledtogether and walked away with 10 trophies ranging from first to third place.
TheSmith-Brown Memorial Look dancers did not compete but performed an exhibitionat the beginning of the competition.
“Ifeel that competition was a great experience and I’m ready to get up and dobetter next year,” said Jessica Putman, a freshman majoring in businessmanagement from Austin.
Afteronly being in existence for just over a year and also attending their firstcompetition, the All-Girl squad, led by Yakima Ball, beat out several othersquads for a second place overall trophy in their category.
Thisis the Gold n’ Bluez fourth year competing in Black Nationals. Placing secondin the first two years and not placing their third year, they came back toregain their title. They walked away with the second place trophy, beating outnumerous squads.
Ithas been three years since the co-ed squad has competed. In the past years thatthey have competed, the squad won the title of National Black Champion’s eachtime.
Thesquad walked away with first, second and third place in the partner-stuntingcategory and in the individual cheer category.
Theco-ed cheerleading squad received the title of Black College National Championsand their coach James Smith was named the coach of the year.
