After months of preparation, Saint Mary’s newest athletic team, a four-quarter competitive cheerleading sport, will be offered for Belles. The STUNT team began its inaugural season Feb. 8, defeating Concordia Chicago and Buena Vista in their first two matches.
Saint Mary’s began considering adding an additional sport a few years ago, Julie Schroeder-Biek, director of athletics at Saint Mary’s said. After considering what different sports were recognized by the NCAA, whether nearby colleges played the sport, what the roster size was and if it was a good fit for the students, Saint Mary’s ultimately landed on STUNT.
“It is an NCAA emerging sport for women which highlights the sport for growth and hopefully a fast track to becoming an NCAA Championship sport. Our facility can accommodate this sport and it has a good roster size offering allowing for solid participation numbers,” Schroeder-Biek said. “On top of all of this, it is an incredibly exciting sport to watch and easily builds a great fan base.”
During STUNT games, the two teams compete on the mat at the same time, with the team that performs the routine best each round earning a point. The four quarters are divided into partner stunts, pyramids & tosses, jumps & tumbling and a team routine.
Lydia Alexander, a senior on the team, summarized how each quarter of the game plays out.
“The first quarter is partner stunts where we lift each other, the second quarter is pyramids and tosses where we stack each other, third quarter is jumps and tumbling where we do flips and the fourth quarter is all of the first three quarters put together,” she said.
Alexander shared her excitement at winning the first two games.
“I am very proud of us for coming out of our first two games as a program with two wins! It felt very good to know that the first game ever played in our program history was a win!” she said.
Miley Smith, a freshman player, described her emotions during the first game.
“I went into the game pretty nervous, but once the game started I became confident in my team and our abilities,” Smith said.
STUNT Belles have early mornings, with practices held four days a week and lifting sessions twice a week.
“We usually arrive to the gym around 5:15 a.m. so that we can roll out all our mats for practice to begin right at 5:45,” Alexander said.
Players shared what they enjoyed about the sport.
“STUNT is a team sport unlike any other. We have to work together and trust each other immensely to make the stunt hit,” Alexander said. “We are constantly working together and pushing ourselves in order to have the best outcome.”
“My favorite part of the sport is partner stunts, because we get to work on difficult skills which makes it rewarding when we finally get them right.” Smith said.
Saint Mary’s will host a STUNT tournament this weekend, with the Belles facing Heidelberg and Malone on Saturday and Michigan and Concordia Chicago on Sunday. Smith expressed her excitement for the games.
“I’m definitely looking forward to this weekend’s tournament. I’m not only excited to compete this weekend, but to watch other schools compete, as well,” Smith said.
Alexander also expressed her optimistic outlook for the season.
“We are excited to continue working hard this season to continue the good outcomes,” Alexander said.
