The John Jay Bloodhounds were crowned the 2017 CUNYAC Cheerleading Champions, winning their first ever CUNYAC Cheer Championship, in front of a large and enthusiastic crowd and an especially boisterous John Jay fan section. The Bloodhounds were able to come out on top to break the Brooklyn Bulldogs four-year consecutive win streak. John Jay finished in first place with a total of 73.7 points. They were followed by Brooklyn in second with 62 points. Lehman finished closely behind in third with 55.7 points.

“It feels incredible. I am very proud of the girls, I’m very proud of John Jay, I’m proud of the guys on our team too,” said John Jay Head Coach Kayla Harkness. “Our team worked really hard ever since last year. We came into the 2016-17 season ready to work, ready to push. It’s an exhilarating feeling, I’m very excited, and I’m very excited for John Jay College.”

The first-time champions brought out all the stops to beat the reigning champions from Brooklyn. Their team performance routine consisted of an abundance of energy, strong techniques, loud cheers, and high flying stunts. This year’s routine was something new for the Bloodhounds compared to previous competitions and the judges took notice.

In the jumping competition, William Head of Brooklyn earned the gold with his superbly executed leaps. He displayed his athleticism and enthusiasm with nice height on a toe touch jump that was followed by a pike jump. His efforts notched him an average score of 14.3 points. For their terrific performances and efforts, John Jay’s Kayla Sanes took home second place with an average of 13.5 points while Lehman’s Surelle Santos followed closely behind, as she got the bronze medal scoring an average of 13.3 points.

The tumbling competition saw the lone competitor, Sonia “Kiba” Spencer of John Jay complete an excellent tumble that included a round-off into five back handsprings. This portion was not officially judged as there was only one competitor.

The CUNYAC Performer of the Year went to Isis Samuels of John Jay. The junior-captain continually motivated her team and finished off an excellent season by helping her team take first place in the team performance.

“It was a lot of hard work this season after losing a lot of teammates, and I think just being able to motivate my team and tell them that first place is possible,” said CUNYAC Performer of the Year - Isis Samuels. “We definitely deserved it.”

Kayla Harkness, the coach of John Jay, earned the CUNYAC Coach of the Year award. It was well deserved after winning their first championship, and all of the hard work she put into making this year’s cheerleading team a first place contender after placing third in last year’s championship.

“I’m really taken aback, I can’t believe that it’s been such a great year. I’m really, really proud of the team and I wouldn’t be coach of the year without such a great team and team players, they really are the best and bring out the best in me,” said Coach Harkness.

Receiving the CUNYAC Rookie of the Year award was Brooklyn College freshman Victoria Frias. Her participation in the team performance helped the Bulldogs tremendously, and helped her team take home second place in the competition.

CUNYAC named its Sportsmanship winner as well, giving the honor to John Jay’s Kayla Sanes. The rest of the Sportsmanship Team is represented by Mica Severe of Lehman and Vanessa Borrero of Brooklyn.

CUNYAC Yearly Awards

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