2022 LSU Gumbo - Book - Page 44
Photos by Georgia Jones
The LSU Tiger Girls are National Champions
after receiving a near perfect score for their hip hop
routine, “Like a Boy” at the Universal Dance Associated
Championship in Orlando, Florida.
It has been over a decade since the Hip Hop National
Championship title returned to Baton Rouge, with the
team’s last top-score in 2010. After a year of the COVID-19
pandemic, while other university sports programs were
allowed to participate in their regular season, the Tiger
Girls could not. Pauline Zernott, the Tiger Girls director of
operations, said that last year’s absence from competition
only made the squad “more hungry” for this year’s title.
Shortly after the scorers gave the Tiger Girls their score
and the trophy was hoisted, their hip hop routine would go
viral on social media platforms, showing that it was more
than a dance, it was a statement from an all-girl team who
can not only compete with but beat co-ed teams.
‘Like a Boy’ was curated and choreographed specifically
for this team and all other female athletes who have been
neglected in relation to their male counterparts,” Tiger Girls
Assistant Coach Payton Ibos said. “Our choreographers,
Carson Rowe and Sammy McFadden, were passionate
about creating this routine for the positive message
behind the empowerment of the female athletes in the
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dance industry, as well as for the recognition of dance as a
collegiate sport with deserving student athletes.”
Chloe Tourelle, in her third year with the squad, knew
that they had what it took for them to win. She said that
the team has been training and dreaming of this position
since auditions were held in April and since then they
knew they had something special.
Further, Tourelle noted that the team’s choice in
costume for the “Like a Boy” routine was deliberately
subtle, not to detract from the dance’s message.
“We did not have too many rhinestones because the
storyline was such a strong storyline in itself that the
costume didn’t need to override that,” Tourelle said. “We
just had to repeat what we did in the semi-finals, and we
did.”
After what Tourelle described as countless hours of
preparation for the National Championship alone, the
LSU Tiger Girls are National Champions for the Hip Hop
Division. The Tiger Girls also posted an eighth place finish
in the Jazz division and a sixth place in cheer.
“It feels very good,” Tourelle said. “We were very
humbled. It was a long time coming.”
“Such a journey for sure, but we did it,” Head Coach
Kandace Hale said. “I still can’t believe it.”