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[Jeff Cunningham]

From England to Louisville
By Jeff Cunningham | jcunningham@hrvarsity.com

Santwon McCray wasn't in England to compete after all.

Rather, he was a VIP at the BCA International Cheerleading Championships this past weekend in Telford. So instead of competing, McCray judged and spent time demonstrating cheers and techniques to the competitors.

"It wasn't quite what we were expecting," McCray's mother, Emily Ruiz, said. "He was there on behalf of Cheer, Ltd. and he wound up showing everyone who cheers are done and things of that nature."

McCray, who won an individual cheering award in Fayetteville, N.C. in a May 19-20 competition, graduated from Kellam High School with an advanced diploma this past June.

McCray wasn't immediately available for comment, still flying in from England.

Ruiz said he'd be flying back into Norfolk on Tuesday, then almost immediately will be on his way to Kentucky. McCray will be attending the University of Louisville, where he plans to major in Accounting and compete on the cheerleading team.

Competitive cheerleading has grown in recent years, and the NCAA has sanctioned several collegiate teams, including the first-ever Division I program at Maryland, in the interest of Title IX. Louisville finished second behind Maryland in the national competition this past April.

The Cardinals won national titles from 2001 through 2005. Louisville will compete in Division I of the National Cheerleading Association.

Oregon recently added a competitive squad along with its baseball team, and associate athletic director Renee Baumgartner told the Oregon Daily Emerald she believes the NCAA will make competitive cheerleading a varsity sport in 10 years.

"We looked at a variety of emerging sports and NCAA sports and it came down to that competitive cheer was a sport that was growing very fast," Baumgartner told the University of Oregon-based paper.

Other schools with competitive teams include N.C. State, Rutgers, South Carolina and Pittsburgh.