Let’s give three cheers for the ladies of the competition squad of the A&T cheerleaders—one for each of their recent titles!

On March 14, North Carolina A&T cheerleaders took home their third Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Cheerleading Championship title in three years.

Leroy Mikell/The Register

Aggie cheerleader Raina McClintock

The Aggies took first place in overall performance as well as the all-girl division, while local rival Winston-Salem State finished third.

The same day, A&T Women’s Basketball team won the MEAC regular season and tournament championship finishing with a 15-1 record to be placed as the No. 14 seed in the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament. The Lady Aggies faced Florida State Seminoles on Saturday, March 21, losing to the Seminoles 83-71. 

Last year the competition took place at the RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C.
The Lady Aggies took home top honors in the Overall performance as well as the All-Girl Division.

Winston-Salem also took part in the competition and placed second in only their first year in competing.

Howard placed third in the all-girls division. This year cheerleading squad included senior captains Vallentina Barton and LaTresha Drummond.

Both have cheered on all three MEAC Championship teams, and Barton explained how em the journey has been for her as a senior cheerleader.

“It’s just an overwhelming feeling to win and to know that we have been practicing every morning and every week,” said Barton.

“For the four past  months we’ve been getting up everyday from six in the morning to six in the evening and it paid off.

We were nervous because we were not there early and we did not know what everybody else was going to have. But it just feels good to know that you can come together with 22 other girls and start from scratch and win. It’s just like watching all your hard work pay off.”

Barton also explained how her last competition affected her emotionally.“I cried,” she said.  “I cried because I knew that we won when we did it, and I knew that that was it.
“You know, like how you always say you are ready for it to be over, but when it’s really over, it’s no going back.''

Stacie Bailey writes for The Register, the North Carolina A&T University student newspaper.