USF all girl cheer and coed cheer teams claim program's 10th and 11th championships

TAMPA, JAN. 20, 2026 - The University of South Florida cheer program added two more national championships and three runner-up finishes, medaling in all five divisions it entered, at the 2026 UCA/UDA College Cheerleading & Dance Team National Championship at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla. over the weekend.

Well established as one the nation's premier cheerleading programs, the Bulls pushed their championship haul to 11 world or national championship titles in the last six years with both the All Girl squad and Coed team claiming national championships in 2026. All Girl also claimed two silver medals and Coed one as the Bulls posted top two finishes for every team entered.

The USF All Girl Cheer Team, led by head coach , claimed the program's fourth national championship by winning the Division 1 All Girl Game Day crown. The All Girl team, which last year claimed their first-ever Premier All Girl University World Cup championship and USA Grand Championship, also earned runner-up finishes in the All Girl Division 1A Traditional category and in the University World Cup competition, placing in the top two in three divisions for the first time in program history.

The team has now finished in the top two nationally in the All Girl Game Day competition in four straight years, after capturing back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024 and earning the team's first title in the Division IA Traditional competition in 2024. USF became the first-ever Division I program to win national titles in both All Girl Game Day and All Girl Traditional competitions in the same year in 2024.

"We were super excited for this weekend," said All Girl Cheer Head Coach . "Our goal for the Game Day competition was to come out and do exactly what we did - execute and put on a show - and we are very proud the girls did that and were able to secure the national title.

"For the Traditional competition, we were over the moon. Our goal was two zero deduction routines, and that's exactly what we did. We were really excited to put beautiful cheerleading in the arena and are incredibly proud of the silver medal. We were also super excited to be able to earn the silver medal in the University World Cup Championship division as well. This is our first time medaling in all three of our divisions at the same time. Bringing home a national championship and two silvers is something we are very proud of. We'll enjoy this and then we'll get back to work."

Assisting Clarke in coaching the All Girl team are , Leighton Clarke, Jessica Shefman, Kayla Rivera and Kate Shapiro. Competing for the 2026 USF All Girl Cheer team are: Addie Chandler, Adriana Figueiredo, Anastasia Pargoe, Annabella Maldonado, Annie Herceg, Ashley Hochberg, Ava Chandler, Bella Guerra, Camryn Rausch, Ella Alberti, Emily Ellstrom, Emma Griffith, Gaby Hernandez, Gabrielle Healis, Halle Weber, Hannah Lombardo, Hollyn Cate Henderson, Isabella Harris, Jaelin Morales, Justice Rusing, Kaitlyn Kraiss, Karlee Dark, Karlee Hills, Kayla Dick, Kayla Policky, Kendall Johnson, Kierra Lane, Kiersten Worth, Krysta Vinacco, Kylie Chalmers, Leilani Gillie, Madeline Gautreau, Madelyn Hollis, Makayla Johnson, Makayla Wetmore, Marissa Saritsoglou, Mia Allen, Mia Leblanc-Simard, Paige Kiser, Regan Williams, Saige Monk, Sammy Radzwilka, Savanna Sheffield, Sophia Herrera, Summer Reynolds, Sydney Yahn, Sydnie Cornell, Taylor McGuire, Taylor Hargrave, Zaniyah Anderson and Sidney Forst.

The USF Coed Cheer Team brought home its fourth national championship in the Division 1 Large Coed category and fifth overall, having won the Coed Game Day competition last year and finished runner-up in Large Coed. The Bulls reversed that in 2026, finishing runner up in Coed Game Day.

The USF Coed Cheer Team, led by , and assistant coaches Noah Webb, Adarius Payne, Erica Scarborough and Trent Hayden has established itself as a standard bearer in collegiate cheer, claiming five national championships in the last six seasons. In 2023, USF joined Kentucky as the only programs to win three straight Coed national championships, doing so just three seasons after claiming the program's first-ever national championship in 2021.

"All year, we challenged this team to be tough, to respond appropriately, and to support one another," Head Coach said. "We asked them to fight through every moment, no matter the circumstance, and to never give up. They embraced that challenge and showed exactly who they are."

Competing for the 2026 USF Coed Cheer team are: Ashlyn Pinner, Brandon Gray, Brittyn Ashcraft, Cayla Cabanban, Conner Hernandez, Delaney Poranzinski, Dylan Tardie, Felice LaFevre, Gabriel Hopkins, Jordan Adams, Jordan Wilson, Kayla Unterweiser, Lindsey Nichols, Logan Keester, Matthew Nguyen, Max Difelice, Morgan Newell, Sean Rivera, Sarah Wood, and Thomas Crawford.

USF Coed Cheer renewed national competition in 2016 following a 13-year hiatus and progressively climbed up the leaderboard to become a dominant program, finishing 12th (2017), 8th (2018), 4th (2019), 5th (2020) and finally No. 1 in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025 and 2026.

USF Cheerleading UCA Championship Titles (11):
2026 UCA Division 1A Large Coed
2026 UCA Division 1A All Girl Game Day
2025 UCA All Girl World Cup
2025 UCA USA Grand Champions (All Girl)
2025 UCA Division 1A Coed Game Day
2024 UCA Division 1A All Girl Game Day
2024 UCA Division 1A All Girl Traditional
2023 UCA Division 1A All Girl Game Day
2023 UCA Division 1A Large Coed
2022 UCA Division 1A Large Coed
2021 UCA Division 1A Large Coed

2026 runner-up - Division 1A All-Girl
2026 runner-up - World Cup
2026 runner-up - Division 1A Coed Game Day