Eagle Dancers head to Las Vegas competition

This archived article was written by: Allie Mangum

The CEU Eagle Dancers will be competing at the 2005 NCA-NDA U.S. Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada, March 4-6.
Coach Angelena Cook has been taking girls to various competitions for the past five years. This is the first year she, assistant coach Missy Ferderber and the team will be attending this competition. She says 79 teams from various states and schools will be competing, including Carbon High’s cheerleaders. The cost to compete is $10 per person. The Eagles have done everything from organizing a junior high stomp to putting together local solo and high school drill competitions to earn funds to attend.
President Angie Tanner choreographed the two-minute, 15-second routine. Not only is it much “harder to choreograph such a small team,” but the dance also had to include three distinct elements: jazz, hip hop, and pom. The team has been dedicated to perfecting this number for over a month. “Everybody’s getting along better, and we’re becoming more of a team through (learning) this dance,” says Tanner. The girls competing at the competition include Angie Tanner, Teandra Leithead, Jessica Steele, Jamie Dangerfield, Talisa Miller, Carrie Bell, Kristin Gardner, Future Roberts, Clarissa Chambers and Kelli Searle.
A native of Magna, Utah, Cook graduated from CEU and Utah State with a bachelor’s degree in secondary education. The mother of four, Cook welcomed her last baby daughter two weeks ago on Feb. 15. She partners a local dance studio, Dance Technica with Tori Frandsen, where they teach three to 18-year-old students tap, ballet and drill. She has been coaching for eight years, five of which have been at CEU. Tryouts for the Eagle Dancers will be on April 9 at 1 p.m. in the BDAC.