NC A&T State University cheerleaders make history with back-to-back national championship wins
GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — North Carolina A&T State University works hard to make cheerleading look easy.
The university's cheerleading program has cemented its place in history as a repeat winner in the National Cheerleaders Association and National Dance Alliance College National Championship, according to a press release from N.C. A&T.
With a final event score of 95.0093 and no deductions, the N.C. A&T team took first place again in the Intermediate Small Coed Division I group for this year's event, held April 9-13 in Daytona, Florida.
While their group of 10 included two other North Carolina teams — Western Carolina University and the University of North Carolina at Wilmington — no other historically Black colleges or universities competed in that division.
Last year, the Aggie cheerleaders became the first HBCU team to win this division title and the first HBCU team in North Carolina to win an NCA National Championship, the press release states.
This year, A&T was the only HBCU to win a division title in what is considered the premier collegiate cheerleading and dance championship in the United States.
Racers ready for 2025 Bowman Gray season after NASCAR partnership
'We understood that if we were the best in 2024, then we had to push to ensure we stay the best in 2025,' said Daniel Kearns-Pickett, the Aggies' head cheerleading coach. 'Getting to the top is one thing, but staying at the top is a whole new process.'
'Being able to see how hard myself, teammates, coaches and trainers have put into this two-minute and 15-second routine was all worth it,' said squad member Christion Drew. 'All I could expect from Day 2 was perfection.'
After missing first place by less than one point in their first competition appearance in 2023 but making a comeback win in 2024, the Aggies focused on their program motto, 'Better Than Yesterday,' calling this 'Peak Season' when they pushed themselves to new heights.
'It wasn't just about chasing another win — it was about proving to ourselves and everyone else that we deserved to be there,' said squad member Jaimee Standfield. 'The grit we showed, the challenges we overcame, and the way we came together made this moment even more powerful. This victory was earned, and it's something we'll carry with pride forever.'
The Aggies' history-making repeat also makes a statement that transcends cheerleading, Drew said. 'I hope all Black and brown bodies get to see this routine and see themselves that they belong,' he said. 'Disrupt spaces, let them see you, because when they do, greatness comes about.'
The 2024-25 squad members are co-captains Santana Baker, Tanasia Lemon and Kennedi Stevens, along with Taylor Allen, Jade Barnes, Madisyn Burnette, Katie Cantey, Sydney Cooke, the Drews, Nia Fletcher, Dasani Flowers, La'Kay Hardy, Jaedyn Harris, Isaiah Herbin, Jaida Hines, Aydra Hooper, Ni'Yarah Horton-Washington, Anaya Hutchins, Breyanna Hutchinson, Rokell Johnson, Jazzmya Jones, Milani Kimble, Madison Manley, Anton McPhatter, Carter Powell, Jordyn Shaw, Standfield, Myles Taylor, Ava Wilson, Morgan Young and KJ Zellous.
Watch the Aggies' winning routine here.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
Tennis great Stan Smith on life lessons, Arthur Ashe's legacy and his namesake shoes
Fancy footwork won him Wimbledon. Simple footwear won him everything since. 'The shoe has had a life of its own,' said Stan Smith, 78, whose eponymous Adidas kicks, with their timeless lines and leather uppers, are the king of all tennis sneakers with more than 100 million sold. 'People from all walks of life have embraced them.' Not surprisingly, Smith has a head for business to match his feet for tennis. With that in mind, he and longtime business partner Gary Niebur wrote the just-released 'Winning Trust: How to Create Moments that Matter,' aimed at helping businesses develop stronger relationships with their clients, with tips that readers can apply to their personal relationships and to sports. 'The book is about developing relationships that can elevate the element of trust, which is a depreciating asset in today's world,' Smith said this week in a call from the French Open. When it comes to building and maintaining high-stakes relationships, Smith and Niebur have distilled their process into five key elements they call SERVE, a recurring theme throughout the book. That's an acronym for Strategize, Engage, Recreate, Volley and Elevate. For instance, recreate — as in recreation — means to build bonds through fun shared experiences, and volley means to trade ideas back and forth to find solutions. 'When people realize that you care more about the relationship than the transaction,' Niebur said, 'trust follows.' A onetime standout at Pasadena High and USC, Smith was a close friend of the late Arthur Ashe, the UCLA legend whose name graces the main stadium court at Flushing Meadows, N.Y., home of the U.S. Open. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Ashe's victory at Wimbledon, when he beat the heavily favored Jimmy Connors in the 1975 final. Ashe remains the only Black man to win the singles title at that storied tournament. 'Arthur was a good friend,' Smith said. 'He made a huge impact, and much more of an impact in the last few years of his life when he was fighting AIDS and the heart fund, and obviously for equal rights.' Ashe, who contracted HIV from a blood transfusion he received during heart-bypass surgery, died in 1993. Although he was four years older than Smith, the two developed a close friendship when they traveled the globe as Davis Cup teammates and rising professionals. Smith has vivid memories of traveling with him, Ashe in his 'Citizen of the World' T-shirt with his nose forever buried in a newspaper or magazine. Smith was ranked No. 1 in the U.S. at the time, two spots ahead of his pal, yet the wildly popular Ashe always got top billing. 'When we went to Africa, I was the other guy who played against him in all these exhibitions,' Smith told The Times in 2018. 'They would introduce him as Arthur Ashe, No. 1 player in the U.S., No. 1 in the world, one of the greatest players to ever play the game … and Stan Smith, his opponent.' Smith laughs about that now, but it used to chafe him. Finally, he raised the issue with his buddy. Recalled Smith in that 2018 interview: 'Arthur came up to me and said, 'I'm sorry about that. If we do a tour of Alabama, I'll carry your rackets for you.' He was in tune with everything. 'Arthur was a quiet leader walking a tightrope between a traditionally white sport and the black community.' Smith will be at Wimbledon next month, where his UCLA friend will be honored. As for his shoes, they're everywhere, and have been since the 1970s. Adidas originally developed the shoe for French player Robert Haillet in the mid-1960s, and the sneakers were known as the 'Haillet.' In 1972, the company switched to Smith, naming the shoes in his honor and printing a tiny picture of his mustachioed face on them. There were subtle changes to the Haillet, including a notch in the tongue for laces to pass through and a heel better shaped to protect the Achilles tendon. They sold like crazy. In 1988, Stan Smiths made the 'Guinness Book of World Records' for the most pairs sold at 22 million. Yet that was only the beginning as sales surged with the release of the Stan Smith II and retro Stan Smith 80s. The most common ones were solid white with touch of green on the back. 'Hugh Grant turned around last year in the [Wimbledon] royal box and said, `First girl I ever kissed, I was wearing your shoes,'' Smith told The Times in 2022. 'Another guy said he met this girl when he was wearing my shoes. It was so meaningful that they both wore the shoes for their wedding seven years later. 'It started off as a tennis shoe. Now it's a fashion shoe.' Smith's personal collection has climbed to more than 100 size 13s in all sorts of colors, including his favorite pair in cardinal and black, an homage to his USC roots. In 2022, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Smith's Wimbledon singles title, Adidas gave all of its sponsored players a pair of shoes with SW19 on the tongue — Wimbledon's postcode — with the date of that match against Ilie Nastase inside the right shoe and the score of the match inside the left. At Wimbledon this year, the spotlight swings to the other side of Los Angeles, to an unforgettable Bruin, a sports hero who impacted so many lives. For Smith, his friendship with Ashe was an early example in his career of a relationship forged with trust. The book, incidentally, is affixed with a unique and fitting page marker. A shoelace.
USA Today
9 hours ago
- USA Today
2026 4-star RB and Texas A&M commit has shut down his recruitment
2026 4-star RB and Texas A&M commit has shut down his recruitment Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko was 100% on the mark this offseason when discussing Texas A&M's strong foundation under his leadership, which was proven this weekend during one of the biggest recruiting weekends of the summer, as the Aggies hosted 18 2026 prospects, including several commitments. Two of the top names in A&M's 2026 cycle include four-star wide receiver Aaron Gregory and four-star running back Jonathan Hatton, who both shut down their recruitment on Saturday afternoon during the third day of their official visits. Gregory, who has been heavily pursued by Texas and others this offseason, noted his strong relationship with the coaching staff and sees himself as a perfect fit in Texas A&M's offense. For Hatton, after re-affirming his commitment earlier in the day, the Cibolo (TX) native followed Gregory in taking to social media (X) to announce that he will shut down his recruitment and cancel is future official visits, which includes his OV to Oklahoma on June 20, as the future starting running back is "1,000% locked in with Texas A&M." On the field, Hatton is an elite runner with the vision, footwork, and upfield burst to become a star at the next level, having produced 1,229 yards and 20 touchdowns while averaging 9.17 yards per carry. With Le'Veon Moss leaving after the 2025 season, bringing Hatton into the backfield lineup will provide immediate depth in 2026. According to 247Sports Composite, Hatton is currently positioned as the 77th-ranked prospect in the 2026 class, the 5th-ranked running back, and the 10th-ranked prospect in Texas. Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Cameron on X: @CameronOhnysty.
Miami Herald
14 hours ago
- Miami Herald
HBCU gymnastics program to shut down
Fisk University's gymnastics program - the first in HBCU history - is shutting down. The Nashville, TN-based HBCU announced in an email on Friday that it will discontinue the sport. According to College Gym News, the university cited challenges with aligning gymnastics to its current athletics structure. "We are tremendously proud of the history our gymnastics team has made in just three years," said Fisk Director of Athletics Valencia Jordan. "But we look forward to focusing on our conference-affiliated teams to strengthen our impact in the HBCU Athletic Conference. Fisk is grateful for the hard work, dedication, and tenacity of its gymnasts, staff members, and coaches who made this program possible." The groundbreaking program drew national attention from the start. Fisk hired Corrine Tarver- the first Black woman to compete in gymnastics at the University of Georgia and a national champion- as head coach. Morgan Price, who turned down a chance to compete in the SEC, became the team's breakout star. She joined several other young gymnasts eager to make history on the inaugural HBCU squad. The team got off to a strong start in 2023 and improved in 2024. Price won the national championship in the all-around and defended her title in 2025. However, cracks began to appear earlier this season. Tarver, who had also served as athletics director, stepped down midseason. Fisk faced financial aid issues tied to FAFSA processing delays, which created uncertainty for many students. Last summer, Nashville's Metro Council stepped in with $500,000 in emergency funding to support the university. Price announced last month she would transfer to Arkansas for her final season. Now, the program she and her teammates helped build appears to be finished. This decision comes about a year after Talladega College - the first HBCU to announce a gymnastics program - ended its own after just one season. The post HBCU gymnastics program to shut down appeared first on HBCU Gameday. Copyright HBCU Gameday 2012-2025
