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History Is Made After Savannah State Becomes First HBCU to Win CheerSport Nationals

Posted byBy Kiersten Willis | Published on: CommentsComments (0)

The cheerleaders at Savannah State University won the Level 4 Division, Open 4 category (@Gemyaaa/Twitter)

For the first time, a historically Black university took home the top prize at the annual CheerSport Nationals competition.

Savannah State University’s cheerleading team won first place at the event held in Atlanta Sunday, Feb. 19 with a final score of 87.62. The group of a dozen women and one man told WJCL it was an honor to take home the purple-and-gold trophy.

“We’re all very proud,” Dathan Gooden, the lone man on the team, said. “We wanted to bring this home because no one ever really saw us accomplish anything like that before or really [knows] what we’re about, so we just wanted to bring it home.”

The CheerSport win was the first of its kind for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference team, which also competed in the 24-year-old competition in 2013. The Tigers placed eighth that year in the college level 4 division.

“We are very excited, ecstatic, just a feeling that you can’t explain,” Morgan Moore said. “It’s indescribable. It’s just a great feeling to know that we’ve made history at our school.”

The excitement spilled out onto social media, with other team members sharing videos and photos from the tournament.

https://twitter.com/_Kris__10/status/833401602207793154

https://twitter.com/mallorishea/status/833414625140080640

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQtPuh_lWNd/?taken-by=_raeera

Many fans tweeted congratulatory words for the team after the news made headlines.

https://twitter.com/iamashleymonet/status/834103821420855296

One special message came from actress Gabrielle Union, who played cheer captain of the fictional East Compton Clovers in the 2000 comedy “Bring It On.”

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