On the weekend of April 8, the Georgia Southern All-Girls cheerleading team took home the win at the College Nationals, hosted by The National Cheerleaders Association (NCA), in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Every spring, collegiate cheer teams from around the country travel to Daytona to compete in the biggest competition of the year. The Eagles competed in the Intermediate All-Girl Division 1A group, going up against schools such as Clemson, Ohio State, Michigan and more.
Preparing for a Flawless Performance
Leading the group is Stephanie Del Forn, who has been with Georgia Southern for 12 years. The season got off to a rocky start after head coach Barry Munkasy retired in January.
Del Forn led the team through the creation of the routine, with the help of choreographer Chris White. He has been working with Georgia Southern for years, and his job is to come in and show the team the routine. White makes the trip in January, and after that, it’s up to the cheerleaders to prepare.
“It’s definitely a slow process,” Del Forn said. “We got stunts and things like that we have to work on to make sure we perfect, but my role in that is to give them the structure and practices to prepare them the best that I can.”
Cheerleading is a sport that is tough on your body and your mind. The routines can be intense, and a positive attitude can make a huge difference. “I needed them to show up with a positive attitude,” Del Forn explained. “I told them I wasn’t going to handle any negativity.”
Maintaining a positive outlook and a strong work ethic is what Del Forn believes carried them through. “There was no doubt that we worked hard,” she said. “We did it together and overcame a lot, and I think that’s what made it so special.”
After getting the team into the right mindset, it was time to perfect the routine. From tumbling passes to stunts, to pyramids and a dance, there are a lot of technical pieces that come together.
In this competition, the teams compete over two days, but day two is what matters most. “If you don’t hit on day two, you have a very, very small chance of winning,” Del Forn said. “We went out there, and they walked off that mat knowing that they did the job that they came to do.”
In the cheerleading world, “hitting” your routine signifies a flawless performance. You land every tumbling pass and execute every stunt, jump and dance move perfectly. You may also hear the term “hitting zero,” which means your routine had zero deductions from the judges.
“There’s no way to describe the feeling,” Del Forn said, reminiscing on the day two performance. “There is nothing like hitting your routine on a day that you know it counts and matters most.”
While their routine showcased all pieces, Del Forn took the time to praise the stunt sequences and the tumbling passes that traveled from corner to corner across the mat. “Our timing was really good on all of that,” she said with a smile. “We showcased two different stunt sections, which we were really able to capitalize on the score sheet.”
Leading the Team to Victory
The coaches played a big role in the team’s victory, but the work of the team captains cannot go unrecognized. Marissa Taylor and Sophia Parry were the seniors in charge this season.
Taylor has been on the team for four years now, but this nationals win has quickly become her favorite memory of this program. “I love this team so much, and we’ve really had the time of our lives,” Taylor said. “We had the mindset of whatever comes at us this season, we’re just gonna have fun.”
After losing their head coach, Taylor and Parry’s job was to make sure the team stayed close and worked hard. “After facing that adversity, we had to come together and love on each other even more,” she explained. “We always said to do it for each other before going on stage, so it always helped lift each other up.”
While on the mat, it can be hard not to get lost in the chaos. For Taylor, though, in the middle of performing, she knew exactly when the routine was going to hit. “After we hit the first stunt, I got really excited, and then when we hit the second stunt, we heard everybody on the mat start screaming,” she recalled with a smile. “We then got to the pyramid, and as soon as we hit our full around, we knew it was a good routine.”
The finale of the routine was a dance sequence, and going into it, Taylor’s emotions were running high. “I started crying going into the dance because I was so excited. You really can’t beat that feeling.”
Securing the Win
After they gave it their all, it was time to wait. The girls huddled around on the mat, anxiously waiting for the results to be announced. As Georgia Southern was announced as the champion, Taylor recalls everyone crying and jumping up and down.
“There’s a whole bunch of emotions,” she said. “Especially this being my last time, I was super emotional, but we went out with a bang.”
They grabbed the trophy, snapped a few photos, and then started the Daytona tradition where the winning team runs straight to the beach and into the water. “It didn’t even feel real,” Taylor said. “I don’t think it fully hit me when it was happening.”
“I don’t even remember if the water was cold or not,” she laughed. “I was just so excited. We got to throw all of our coaches in the water, too, which was so fun.”
What’s Next?
To hopefully continue the team’s reign, the program announced its new head coach, Elizabeth Kicklighter, on April 24. “She is someone who I am very close with,” Del Forn said. “I coached her when she was here, so it was super exciting to bring her back.”
The tryouts for the 2026-2027 school year will be held on May 16 and 17 at Hanner Fieldhouse. While the coaching staff is looking for talent, they are also looking for good people to put in the effort on the team, hoping to take home a back-to-back win.
