After leading St. Ambrose to back-to-back NAIA National Championships in both competitive cheer and dance, Danelle Langeneckert announced she is stepping down as the Director of Spirit Squads and head coach of both programs at St. Ambrose to pursue other opportunities.

In her time at St. Ambrose, she has won six NAIA National Titles, four coming in dance and two in cheer.

Langeneckert turned the SAU Cheer and Dance Teams into national powers. Originally hired as the SAU dance coach in March 2010, she became the school's Spirit Coach in charge of both the dance and cheer programs in May 2017. After winning back-to-back NAIA Dance National Invitational Championships in 2015 and 2016, Langeneckert led the Dance Team to its first NAIA Championship in 2018. More National Titles followed. The Dance Team won again in 2021 and then back-to-back in 2023 and 2024. 

The SAU Cheer Team won its first NAIA Championship in 2023 as St. Ambrose became the first school to win both competitive cheer and dance titles in the same year. The Bees repeated the feat with the Cheer Team winning its second National Title this year.

"Danelle is a respected coach on a national level," SAU Director of Athletics Mike Holmes said. "Not many coaches can say they have won two national championships in a single day - and she has done it twice. She has put both programs in positions of strength in every conceivable way. It will be our goal to maintain what she has built."

Along with winning numerous state, regional and national championships, Langeneckert coached 50 NAIA Dance All-Americans and 25 Cheer All-Americans. She had another 31 receive All-America honorable mention across the two programs. For her efforts, she was named the NAIA Dance Coach of the Year three times and was honored as the NAIA Competitive Cheer Coach of the Year in 2023.

Her teams also found success in the classroom. She coached a total of 109 NAIA Scholar-Athletes (69 dance, 40 cheer) in her time with the programs.

Langeneckert's last day at St. Ambrose will be May 31.