Competitive Cheerleading 11/29/2017 2:39:00 PM

OCU to field STUNT program

Gerszewski to lead Stars in competitve cheerleading sport

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University has added STUNT as an intercollegiate athletics program and hired Mandy Gerszewski as the new coach.
STUNT is a new and exciting sport that has been created from the fundamentals of traditional cheerleading. It was created with the goal of expanding participation opportunities for college athletes. Gerszewski came to OCU from St. Gregory's University, where she had been the head cheerleading coach for the past four years.
Gerszewski guided St. Gregory's to the NAIA competitive cheerleading national championships for three consecutive years. Gerszewski led the Cavaliers to a ninth-place finish in the 2017 NAIA Championships on March 10-11 at Abe Lemons Arena and top-10 finishes in the NAIA Championships and National Cheerleaders Association Nationals in 2015-16.
Additionally, Gerszewski coaches at Bishop McGuiness High School in Oklahoma City where she led its cheerleading team to state and regional championships and was named the Region 8 coach of the year in 2017.
"We are extremely excited to announce the start of our new STUNT program," OCU cheerleading coach and spirit coordinator Alicia Bailey said. "OCU cheer has a tradition of excellence, and we cannot wait to carry that over to our STUNT team. I am grateful for the support from our university and athletic department for this expansion of our spirit squads program.
"Mandy is the perfect addition to our coaching staff, and I am excited to have her join us. Her success at the high school level and experience with STUNT will help us propel this program to the highest level. We will be using a handful of transfer student-athletes and the women who are currently on our cheer team to compete in STUNT this spring."
There are currently 82 collegiate teams competing across the country in STUNT. STUNT has proven to be popular in Oklahoma as more than 90 high schools in the state sponsor the sport.
OCU coaches have already begun recruiting for this spring and next season. By the fall of 2019, OCU will be the only college in the state to have an official STUNT team separate from its cheer team. Along with OCU cheer team members, the STUNT team members will be eligible for athletic scholarships.
"I am honored and privileged to join the Stars family," Gerszewski said. "Oklahoma City University's cheer and dance teams are world-class programs with unmatched tradition of building championship teams while fostering a foundation of success for the student-athletes. Starting a STUNT program will create endless possibilities for the cheer program, and I am excited to be a part of the beginning of a new legacy at OCU. I appreciate athletic director Jim Abbott and coach Alicia Bailey for this incredible opportunity."
Gerszewski (nee' Thomson) assists a leading all-star program in Edmond, Okla. Gerszewski, an Oklahoma State University graduate, has competed in gymnastics and power tumbling, coaching gymnastics since she was 14.
The Stars competed in STUNT from 2013-15, placing among the top four each year and taking NCA Division II runner-up in 2013. OCU hosted the 2014 College STUNT Nationals. The 2018 STUNT Nationals take place at Michigan State on April 27-29, 2018.
Oklahoma City University fields 22 intercollegiate varsity programs and has won 66 national championships in all sports. The Stars have captured three NAIA competitive cheerleading championships, the 2014 NAIA competitive pom/dance title, 10 NCA crowns and four National Dance Alliance titles. OCU won the 2016-17 Directors' Cup title as the top athletic department in the NAIA.

More about STUNT

STUNT, was developed with a format and structure to meet the Title IX requirements, while still protecting the integrity of traditional cheerleading and the valuable role it plays on many campuses today. Based on cheerleading skills with the crowd elements removed, STUNT is a head-to-head competition between two teams. STUNT is the fastest growing female sport at the collegiate and high school level.
Teams perform the same routines against the opposing team, and scores are based purely on execution. Each contest features four quarters. The teams showcase different disciplines each quarter – partner stunts in the first quarter, pyramids and tosses in the second period, jumps and tumbling in the third and a team routine in the fourth. The head-to-head format simplifies the scoring process, allowing fans to track the results of the competition as each quarter is completed. Games last approximately 45 minutes to one hour and teams compete simultaneously.

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