OUTSTANDING OUTCOMES
TIGER CHEER SQUAD SETS RECORDS ALL YEAR LONG
GC MAGAZINE | SPRING 2021 9
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n only its third season as a varsity athletic program, the Georgetown College cheer squad won the 2021 Mid-South Conference and NAIA Regional Championship. That isn’t even half of what the squad accomplished this season, in competition and in the classroom. Coach Joanie Alexander, a former college cheerleader with a strong drive to build up the program, has led the Tiger cheer team since 2016. For the second-straight year, and for the third time in five years, Alexander was named Mid-South Conference Coach of the Year. She is the first GC coach to win this honor three times. In February, the team became conference and regional champions, earning its first NAIA National Championship Competition spot. The Tigers have been on the brink several times but capturing the Mid-South Conference Championship and NAIA
Regional Championship for an automatic bid was extra sweet. “This has been a journey that our team and Georgetown College trusted me with,” Alexander said. “We are seeing the rewards I knew we could. I’m so excited with how well we’ve done and to know how young but mature we are. This isn’t an easy year for so many reasons, but at every turn this team impresses me and steps up to the challenge.” In that competition, GC scored 91.5 — a program best. In addition, this past season, the Tigers placed first four times and never placed lower than third. At the two-day NAIA Competitive Cheer Championship in March, the Tiger cheer team finished ninth in the nation. A lot of talent and hard work goes into a season like this, and recognition occurred on an individual level, as well.
