Cougarettes take two national titles

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—BYU’s Cougarettes seized two national championships at the NCA & NDA Collegiate Cheer and Dance Competition, taking both the hip hop and open dance titles for the first time in history.

“We did amazing,” Cougarette coach Jodi Maxfield said. “We scored two of the highest scores of the entire competition. We’re pretty excited. It’s unprecedented to win in dance and hip hop. We’ve won both before, but never in the same year.”

BYU scored 9.811 in hip hop, 0.344 ahead of the next competitor. In second place was Missouri, with South Carolina in third, Louisville in fourth and Connecticut in fifth.

In the Dance Open IA division, BYU scored a 9.805, defeating Purdue (second place), Texas Tech (third), West Virginia (fourth) and Missouri (fifth).

The BYU cheer squad finished fourth in the Small Coed IA division with a 92.05. Louisville took the title in that division.