Twelve Bees recognized as Competitive Cheer All-Americans
The honors keep coming for the SAU Cheer Team.
Following a NAIA National Championship three-peat, St. Ambrose had 12 individuals named NAIA Competitive Cheer All-Americans. The Bees placed seven on the first team, one on the second team, and four on the third team.
The seven first-team selections were the most among all NAIA institutions.
Leading the way for St. Ambrose was Taye Owten, a 2024 NAIA co-Cheerleader of the Year. This marked the third straight year Owten was named to the first team.
Savannah Schumacher, JP Elder and Rachel Ruplinger earned first-team honors for the second consecutive season. Schumacher was on the third team in 2023. Sydnee Horstman and Haley Scholbrock were tabbed as First Team All-Americans a year after earning second-team recognition in 2024. Horstman was an honorable mention selection two years ago. Rounding out the first-team choices for St. Ambrose was Mikal Honeycutt, who was named the American Midwest Conference (AMC) Newcomer of the Year earlier this season.
Chloe Fulcher, who was named the AMC's Competitive Cheer Performer of the Year, Tumbler of the Year and Freshman of the Year, continued her strong first season with the Bees by earning Second Team All-American recognition.
Graysen Gerlinger, on the list for the second straight year, Patrick Nauman, Will Smith and RJ Woods were all selected to the third team.
The All-America teams are determined by the national championship judges. Student-athletes are recorded doing four elements: toe tuck, triple jump combination, jump combination, round off back handspring full twisting layout, and stunts. They are graded on a scale of 1-5 ranging from poor form and technique to superior form and technique. First, second and third teams are each made up of 18 student-athletes.
St. Ambrose won its third straight NAIA National Championship with an overall score of 97.95, setting a record for highest score in the nine-year history of the event.