The Texas A&M University-San Antonio Spirit Team will participate in the 2025 College Classic, a national championship competition for collegiate cheer and dance teams April 12-13 in Orlando, Florida.
Sponsored by Spirit Airlines, the College Classic is known for its competitive atmosphere, featuring preliminary rounds followed by “The Battle,” where judges provide video and audio critiques after both preliminaries and finals.
Championship awards include jackets, rings and trophies.
A&M-San Antonio has steadily built its reputation in the competition, with last year’s A&M-San Antonio’s All-Girl Competitive Cheer team making waves by securing fourth place at the College Classic Nationals Virtual Championship.
The spirit team includes General the Jaguar, Jaguarettes dance, and TAMUSA cheer.
Art Olague, director of the Recreational Sports Program, expressed optimism about the team’s performance at the College Classic, particularly the dance team.
“This year, we are expecting our dance team to place well,” Olague said. “Cheer is a couple of years behind, so they’re still developing. A lot of our student-athletes who are dancers understand the expectations and understand what it takes to compete at a high level. So now it’s no longer ‘we’re so happy to be here’; it’s ‘let’s go win something, let’s bring some hardware home.’”
The A&M-San Antonio cheer and mascot teams celebrated their virtual national win on March 15 in the Super Showdown All-Girl Game Day and Mascot Division. The Spirit Team excelled in multiple categories, securing second place in NAIA Pom, third place in NAIA Hip Hop, and fourth place in the Super Spirit Showdown. The NAIA is the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.
Established in fall 2023, the A&M-San Antonio Spirit Program aims to enrich the student body, faculty, staff and community with Jaguar spirit and pride. The program includes competitive cheer and dance teams, the General Mascot and the color guard.
Olague praised Assistant Director and coach Courtney Bobb-Meilinger for her efforts in growing the program.
“Coach Meilinger has done a lot to grow the program,” Olague said. “She started recruiting students; this the second year we actively sought out high school athletes.”
With the program’s growth, A&M-San Antonio Spirit Program announced Alyssa Bocanegra as the new head cheer coach last summer.
Bocanegra, a graduate of A&M-San Antonio, was a three-year member and former captain of the Jaguarettes dance team.
Jessica Salinas, also an A&M-San Antonio alumna, joins as the new dance coach. Salinas served as captain of the Jaguarettes during the 2023-24 season.
“This competition is so full circle for me,” said Salinas, “I spent four years on this dance team as a undergraduate and this is my first year as their coach, so being able to once be in their shoes and now on the other end of things and really be a mentor to these girls for a full year, and see what they can accomplish is truly amazing and inspiring and monumental for me.”
Beyond competitions, the Spirit Team performs at university events and collaborates with local schools. Looking ahead, the program has recently established a drumline and expanded recruitment efforts to attract even more talented student-athletes.
As the countdown to the College Classic begins, Olague expressed confidence in the team’s upcoming performance.
“I think we’re feeling really good about the routines they’re going to be performing.” said Olague.
Reflecting on these transformative efforts, Salinas expressed optimism for the future.
“This year is completely different from any in the past. We’ve worked much harder and I think this really is a starting point for what the future can hold.”
