The University of Mississippi has once again placed an exclamation mark on the sporting world.
Ole Miss All Girl Cheer was crowned D1A All Girl Game Day National Champions on Jan. 14. For a school with a reputation for having an elevated game day experience in the Grove and Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, this spot at the top of the podium is well earned and deserved.
The Game Day competition at UCA Finals consists of stunts and tumbling, as well as crowd interaction sections, mimicking the Grove on Ole Miss Football game day.
“I love the University of Mississippi. Going through a coaching change right before national season started, they had a great attitude and they had conversations and worked together and they listened and they bought in to what me and the two other coaches wanted to build and bring back to Ole Miss and this environment we want to cultivate. They said today it was time for (the trophy) to come home,” Head Coach Troy Allen said in an interview with Varsity Spirit.
Along with their National Championship in the Game Day Division, Ole Miss All Girl Cheer also placed third in traditional D1A Finals, finishing on the podium for the first time in school history. The only other time Ole Miss Cheer has placed in the top three at UCA Nationals was in the Coed division, making it the highest-ever placement for the All Girl program.
“I am the lucky one. I get to coach these wonderful kids and I just love it. I’m just so proud of them and their attitudes and work ethic. They make me want to be a better person and a better coach everyday and I’m just thankful to be a part of it,” Allen said.
For the 28 girls on the mat, winning a national championship has set a standard for the future of Ole Miss Cheer.
“To bring home a national championship means the world to me because after four years I am finally able to say, ‘We did that. We raised the bar. We made history that has to be defended or beat,’” senior cheerleader Brianna Berry said. “It means the world to see all of our hard work actually pay off and have some type of reward.”
While the rest of the student body left Oxford to spend the holiday season with their families, Ole Miss Cheer was on campus practicing twice a day for six weeks.
“Cheerleading is a sport that does not get the recognition it deserves, as many people use the stereotype of our sport to question our credibility as athletes. But we put in just as much hard work as any other athletic division here at Ole Miss. We spend countless hours straining our bodies, being creative with using school traditions in our routines, and staying up long nights to succeed in the classroom,” Berry said. “Therefore, I hope that by winning this national championship our program not only receives outstanding athletes from across the nation but also begins to get the awareness and recognition it deserves.”
