The road to 100 wins

KYLE CHOKAS
PHOTOGRAPHER

JON BEERBOWER
STAFF WRITER

3/18/2024

The college cheerleading season is by far the longest of any collegiate sport. Alma College Cheer Team 12 started their season by placing first at the NCA Camp in Port Huron, MI on Aug. 8. This, in turn, earned them a bid for nationals in April 2024 which is now coming up fast with it being less than a month away. 

After qualifying for Nationals, the next part of the season saw the cheer team on the sidelines at Bahlke Field willing the football team on to victory. It is evident that the football team had their most successful season in modern history, correlating with the work that Team 12 has been putting in all year. 

Following football season, Team 12 turned into the upcoming STUNT season. STUNT is a new NCAA sport, having been introduced over the last few years amongst all NCAA levels, Division I to Division III, and to the NIAA and college clubs across the United States. 

STUNT is the fastest growing female sport in the country. It removes the crowd-leading element of classic cheerleading and focuses on the technical and athletic components of cheer, including partner stunts, pyramids, basket tosses, group jumps and tumbling. 

These elements are put together in short routines that both teams must perform head-to-head on the floor at the same time. The team with the best execution wins the point. With four quarters of play, STUNT is an exciting sport to play, coach and watch.

The 2024 STUNT season has been a great one for the Scots, seeing them pick up a win against the second-ranked Division I school, The University of Kentucky, and Coach Michelle Sabourin picking up her legendary one-hundredth win in the sport of STUNT.

“[Scots softball coach and former Athletic Director,] Denny Griffin has been an amazing mentor to me, helping me greatly early in my career and showing everyone what can be accomplished at Alma College if you work hard and do things the right way,” said Cheer and STUNT Head Coach Michelle Sabourin.

“It was such a fun coincidence to be able to claim my [one-hundreth] win a week before his monumental [one-thousandth] victory. Nick Nemeth really went above and beyond to make the day special, and one that I won’t soon forget,” said Sabourin.

“The accomplishment of [100] wins is really a testament to the [60 plus] alumni athletes who have dedicated so much to this program. Starting from the ground level in year one, we didn’t see much success, never winning a single game. However, that first team never stopped working and set a foundation for us to build on,” said Sabourin.

It took the Scots five years to make their first National Championship appearance. Fast forward seven years, and in that time the Scots have been runner-up three times and are currently the defending national champion, looking to make it a four-peat this spring. 

“This season has been an amazing journey so far, one that I’m cherishing every moment of, especially as a senior. Defending our national title for the fourth time holds much more meaning than just the title – it’s about showcasing the passion, dedication and hard work of Team 12 throughout the entire season,” said Captain Gabrelle Berry (‘24).

Team 12 will be spending the next few weeks perfecting routines as they head to Daytona Florida the week of April 10 for NCA Nationals. Then, they will be heading to the DIII STUNT National Championship the weekend of April 26 at Missouri Baptist University, bringing their long 2023-24 season to a hopefully memorable close.