Florida A&M Wins 2016 Cheerleading Championship

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NORFOLK, Virginia — Florida A&M won the 2016 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Cheerleading Championship on Sunday night at Echols Hall on the campus of Norfolk State University.

The Lady Rattlers of Florida A&M took first place, while the five-time defending MEAC champion Morgan State Lady Bears placed second and Hampton finished third in overall team performance. In addition to winning the overall performance, Florida A&M also won the Co-Ed division for the second consecutive year.

“It feels awesome to win,” Florida A&M head coach Brandi Tatum said. “We had one injury that happened during our warmup so we went in feeling a little defeated. For them to go out there and push themselves to the max just shows what we’re capable of and what we can do.”

Florida A&M’s Shelinka Cunningham took first place in the All-Star Division while Tiffany Williams of Hampton and Kayla Lane-Illescas of Morgan State finished second and third, respectively.

FAMU coach Brandi Tatum was unable to travel with the team, but assistant coach Felicia Barnes was all smiles as the team struck gold in the co-ed division.

Competitive cheer is much different that what a cheer squad does in the normal course of an athletic game.  The team practiced additional hours to prepare for the cheerleading competition.  Unlike Morgan State, who is a competitive cheer squad, who competes in multiple competitions each year, FAMU prepares and competes in this sole event.

The FAMU cheerleaders will root on the Lady Rattlers in their opening round of the MEAC women’s basketball championship, Monday at 4 p.m. as they face the Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman.  All games from the MEAC basketball tournament will be streamed on ESPN3.

For more information on the 2016 MEAC Basketball Tournament, including brackets, ancillary events, tickets and travel information, visit www.MEAChoops.com.


2016 MEAC Cheerleading Championship Results:

All-Star Division
1st Place: Shelinka Cunningham, Florida A&M University

2nd Place: Tiffany Williams, Hampton

3rd Place: Kayla Lane-Illescas, Morgan State University

Co-Ed Division
1st Place: Florida A&M University

All-Girl Division
1st Place: Morgan State University
2nd Place: Hampton University
3rd Place: University of Maryland Eastern Shore

Overall Performance
1st Place: Florida A&M University

2nd Place: Morgan State University

3rd Place: Hampton University

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