Maryville is known as a University that is ahead of the curve in the classroom. But you could also say the same about its pace in the athletic department as it was one of the first universities to add a STUNT team in 2018.
Maryville is known as a University that is ahead of the curve in the classroom. But you could also say the same about its pace in the athletic department as it was one of the first universities to add a STUNT team in 2018.
It was also one of 11 NCAA programs to offer STUNT at the varsity level and only one of two in Missouri and Illinois, according to STUNTthesport.com. Because of Maryville’s early foray into the one of the fastest-growing sports in the country, a Rhode Islander made the 1,300- mile trek to St. Louis.
“STUNT is new and exciting,” said Madeline Quigley, the Rhode Island native, who is in her third year majoring in cybersecurity. “I definitely wanted to try something new and continue participating in a competitive sport for as long as possible.”
This past spring, STUNT took a step closer to becoming a recognized NCAA sport when the Committee on Women’s Athletics recommended that the sport be added to the list of Emerging Sports for Women. Quigley believes this will lead to STUNT being added as one of the 20-plus sports that is sanctioned by the NCAA, which could help bring additional students to Maryville.
“People will catch on, and games will be very well attended,” she added. “I think with our recent success, a lot of recruits will look to come to Maryville for STUNT.” Quigley is one of over 30 Saints who are part of the STUNT team. Most of the roster is dotted with freshmen and sophomores, with Regan Feldott as one of the few upperclass students. While Feldott didn’t have any STUNT experience before joining the squad, she had been on a cheerleading team since she was in the fifth grade.
“I didn’t even know what STUNT was until the end of my second year when I tried out for the team,” she explained. “When I heard there was this thing called STUNT coming to Maryville, I was extremely excited to find out what it was because I love the competitive aspects of cheer, and that’s a lot of what this sport entails.”
“STUNT removes the crowd-leading element and focuses on the technical and athletic components of cheer, including partner stunts, pyramids, basket tosses, group jumps and tumbling,” according to USA Cheer, which created STUNT as another avenue for young women to participate in athletics after high school.
Quigley also had cheer experience but was new to STUNT when she received an offer from Maryville STUNT coach Kara Krawiecki. “I had not heard of Maryville prior to recruitment,” she stated. “After I looked into the cybersecurity major, and then explored STUNT, it seemed like a really good fit for me.”
STUNT has been well suited for Maryville as the squad ranked third in the country in Division II before the season ended early due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “This was a huge accomplishment for us because we are only a second-year team and many of the other teams that have been around for years were cheer teams before doing STUNT,” said Feldott, who is in the doctorate of physical therapy program.
“I always find it amazing that we’re almost as good (if not as good) as those teams that have been doing this for years because all of the girls on our team are only in the STUNT program and none of us had been on any other team with one another until our coach recruited us to be a part of STUNT.”
Maryville named Krawiecki as the first head coach of the Saints STUNT team in 2017. She has also coached at Oakland University and has over 15 years of experience in cheering and coaching. In 2005, she won a state championship in cheerleading during her high school career at Romeo High School.
“I am excited to grow the STUNT program at Maryville University,” Krawiecki said. “STUNT is currently the fastest-growing women’s sport in the country, and I was so excited to get in on the ground floor here at Maryville. Stunting, tumbling and competing were always my favorite and the most exciting components of cheerleading. I am thrilled that the students at Maryville are able to experience this up-and-coming sport, and I look forward to building a fun, competitively and academically successful program.”
WHAT IS STUNT?
STUNT is currently the fastest-growing women’s sport in the country. The competitive team sport is derived from traditional cheerleading but removes the crowd-leading element. Instead, STUNT focuses on the technical and athletic components of cheer, including partner stunts, pyramids, basket tosses, group jumps and tumbling.
The sport developed a new fan base after the release of “Cheer” on Netflix earlier this year, a docuseries following the ups and downs of Navarro College’s competitive cheer squad as they worked to win a coveted national title. Members of the team and its infamous coach, Monica Aldama, became “cheerlebrities” overnight, amassing huge followings on social media.
USA Cheer originally created STUNT as an opportunity for colleges, universities and high schools to meet the strict Title IX requirements of a college sport, while still preserving traditional cheerleading. With more than 500,000 high school cheerleaders, STUNT will expand participation opportunities for young women at the collegiate level by providing an avenue for female athletes to use their cheerleading skill backgrounds in a new format.
In addition to STUNT, Maryville offers several other spirit activities including a co-ed cheer team, a dance team and the Mascot team, which performs as Louie and LJ. The Maryville Pep Band, or the “Sound of the Saints,” also performs for every home basketball game for both the men’s and women’s teams and at other campus events. These programs bring students from across the country to Maryville to support our athletics programs and the Maryville community. Go Saints!