ETBU cheer squad takes home second place at NCAA nationals competition

Marshall, Texas (KLTV) - This is the first year that the East Texas Baptist University’s Cheerleading and Dance team has ever attended nationals. The coaches and the cheer squad says they were all surprised at the second-place trophy they received.

“This national is very expensive to get to, and so I think budget in the previous years has been a factor,” said head coach Ellen Leclair.

Head coaches Leclair and Ashton Davis Leveille both have prior experience in cheerleading and attending nationals when they were in high school and college. Both coaches said due to their prior experience with competing, they knew how much of a vital experience this was for the squad to experience.

“And that experience helped us really be able to sell it to our admin and our athletic department as something that we know that would be life-changing for the kids and something that would benefit ETBU in the long run when it comes to recruiting,” said Leveille.

The cheer and dance squad consists of 24 athletes total who competed against seven other schools in Daytona, Florida, from April 5 to April 8.

“They went out there and they were very spirited and were able to take everything that we use in our traditional environments when it comes to games here at ETBU and transfer that to the mat, which really helped set them apart from others,” said Leveille.

Leclair says every cheer team gets to perform at a football game but not every squad has the opportunity to attend a nationwide competition.

“That’s probably one of the things that we are most excited about and passionate about with our athletes is that we do get to give them the option at EBTU to compete going forward,” said Leclair.

The coaches said that their goal next year is to win first place at nationals and to turn this into a tradition at East Texas Baptist University.

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