DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Under the direction of coaches Rebekah and John Woodson, the Bethune-Cookman University cheerleading squad competed over the weekend in the small college co-ed division of the Christian Cheerleaders of America Regionals in Jacksonville, Fla. The tournament took place at University Christian School.
In just their first year at the head of the Wildcats cheer program, Rebekah and John Woodson helped the B-CU cheer team compete in its first event since 2009. The date – February 8, 2014, will forever be remembered for a new era in Bethune-Cookman University Wildcats Cheerleading due to that fact.
In the CCA Regionals, the Wildcats participated in a low-pressure competition, as they competed solely against the score sheet, as opposed to other teams in the divisional field.
A total of 14 team members participated for B-CU, led by team captain Lenisha Smith. Various campus activities forced six members of the Wildcats squad to miss the weekend's action. In a short week, the team pulled together and re-worked its routine, pushing them beyond what they thought possible. The expectations heading into the tournament were simply to perform a clean routing and get better in preparation for the upcoming Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Championships in March.
The Wildcats had a flawless warm-up round, but dropped one side of their 211 Pyramid in the finals. According to Rebekah Woodson, it was something that had never happened previously in practice sessions, and they had performed safe executions out of it. She expressed that it's all you can ask for in that kind of situation.
The competition company gave B-CU a second chance to hit its pyramid, and the Cats did not disappoint in being given the second opportunity.
“It is not often you ever get a second chance,” said Rebekah Woodson. “So, we took it in order to show the judges exactly what this team is capable of.”
The second chance opportunity paid positive dividends, as the judges awarded the Cats a full-paid bid to CCA Nationals in North Carolina. However, the event is the same weekend as the MEAC Championships in Norfolk, Va. So, B-CU will be unable to attend the CAA Nations, but B-CU was the only HBCU to ever receive a paid bid to the national finals.
Other events entered for the Cats on the day were the jump competition – won by Alexis Oliver, and the fumble competition – won by Tre Bush.
“As coaches, we were proud of the team for pulling together and putting in a lot of extra hours in the gym last week,” stated Woodson. “They know what they need to work on for MEAC Championships, and we are sure this will give them the drive they need to succeed in that event.”
For more information on the CCA Regional and National Finals, please visit CheerCCA.com.
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