Cheerleading | 11/2/2020 4:00:00 PM
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. Vice President and Director of Athletics
Dave Eavenson on Monday afternoon announced the hiring of
Lori Wickham as the next head coach of the Methodist University cheer squad.
"We are excited to announce
Lori Wickham as our new head cheerleading coach," Eavenson said. "She has a great vision and plan for the future of our cheerleading program.
"Lori has a dynamic personality and contagious enthusiasm, and we are looking forward to a bright future for our cheerleading program under her leadership."
Wickham, the 2003-04 National Cheerleading Coach of the Year, comes to Methodist with 21 years of coaching experience, leading squads to numerous state and local titles as well as six consecutive CANAM International Cheerleading championships (2000-05).
The first awards added to Wickham's resumé came in 1988 and 1989 when her Steel Valley squads captured Bantam and Junior Varsity conference championships.
She then built from the ground up a freshman, junior varsity and varsity program at Edison High School (Ohio), leading the program from 1990 through 2005. Those Edison squads would immediately begin earning awards, beginning with a JV championship in 1990 and rolling to many more conference and state titles as well as the unbroken string of CANAM championships.
Since moving to Fayetteville in 2005, Wickham has worked at Cheer Limited in many capacities, including Event Producer, Event Director, and Brand Manager.
Wickham takes over a Methodist squad that has also made its mark at the CANAM championships.
Monarch Cheer captured the 2019 CANAM National Championship in the medium collegiate, open coed division, following national championships in 2015 and 2014 in the medium collegiate, open division.
National recognition for the squad began in 1988 when coach Gwen Sykes Holtsclaw's squad made Methodist's first appearance in national competition, finishing in fourth place. Between these dates the squad has been a regular on the podiums of national competitions.
