MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Slippery Rock University senior Madison Thibault was recently named as a member of the inaugural College STUNT Association All American team.

Thibault, a resident of Allentown and graduate of Parkland High School, is a psychology and gerontology major at SRU. She was a member of the 2010-11 SRU All-Girl cheerleading squad.

Thibault's primary skill for the STUNT competition was backspot, while her secondary skills were as a tumble and jumper.

The College STUNT Association is under the leadership of USA Cheer. All Americans were chosen by a committee of coaches from various regions along with two STUNT officials.

According to the association's web site:

A new competitive team sport that has derived from traditional cheerleading, STUNT removes the crowd-leading and focuses on the technical and athletic components of cheer, which include the partner stunts, pyramids, basket tosses, jumps and tumbling skills. STUNT has been designed with the goal of being considered for NCAA Emerging Sport status and to ultimately satisfy Title IX's requirements for intercollegiate sport.

Coaches from the 22 teams that participated in the first season of STUNT were invited to nominate two athletes from their teams to be All Americans. Nominees for All Americans needed to exhibit superior skills and techniques as well as good game sense and knowledge of STUNT, and be in good academic standing. They also needed to have participated in at least half of the games or tournaments for at least 50 percent of the routine.

Twenty All Americans were chosen for the 2011 season of STUNT, along with eight Honorable Mentions. More information can be found on http://collegestunt.org.

2010-11 STUNT All-American Team
Aisha Brandon (Senior) - University of Louisville
Stacey Bryner (Senior) - North Carolina State University
Samantha Carlton (Junior) - Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo
Gabriela Cisneros (Junior) - University of Florida
Heather Costa (Senior) - Framingham State University
Ashley Cottrell (Junior) - Morgan State University
Janee Demery (Senior) - Georgia Southern University
Courtney Fernandez (Senior) - Methodist University
Natalie Finney (Junior) - Oklahoma State University
Jenna Fischer (Senior) - University of Georgia
Dani Keathley (Freshman) - Sam Houston State University
Ashley Lanphere (Senior) - North Carolina State University
Nicole Legere (Freshman) - Framingham State University
Lauren Lock (Senior) - Texas A&M
Amanda Ross (Sophomore) - Morgan State University
Felicia Rousseau (Sophomore) - Stonehill College
Nicole Shaw (Junior) - Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo
Lindsey Sitzlar (Senior) - University of Louisville
Madison Thibault (Senior) - Slippery Rock University
Kayla Wheatley (Senior) - Georgia Southern University

2010-11 STUNT All-American Team Honorable Mentions
Ciara Auringer (Junior) - University of Georgia
Chastity Chapman (Freshman) - Methodist University
Ashley Daignault (Freshman) - University of Central Oklahoma
Andrea Dearing (Sophomore) - Sam Houston State University
Ashley Engelbert (Freshman) - University of Florida
Amanda Estes (Freshman) - University of Central Oklahoma
Amy Haraden (Senior) - Stonehill College
Lexie Novosad (Freshman) - Oklahoma State University

About the Format
STUNT follows a game format with four quarters, including a short half time. These quarters include Partner Stunts, Group Jumps & Tumbling, Pyramids & Tosses, and Team Performance. Players wear uniforms that identify them by number. Within each quarter, teams perform skill sequences of varying levels of difficulty, technical execution and synchronization. The fourth quarter is the "Team Performance” which allows teams to incorporate their entire team's arsenal into a choreographed routine. Two to six teams compete simultaneously in head-to-head competition.

Cheerleaders, coaches, and parents can visit http://collegestunt.org to learn more about STUNT, the College STUNT Association and its initiatives.

About USA Cheer
The USA Federation for Sport Cheering is a not-for profit organization and is the national governing body for all disciplines of cheerleading. USA Cheer exists to serve the entire cheer community, including club cheering (All Star), traditional school based cheer programs and the new sport of "STUNT.” USA Cheer has three primary objectives: help grow and develop interest and participation in Cheer throughout the United States; promote safety and safety education for cheer in the United States; and represent the United States of America in international cheer competitions.