LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. —
When North Laurel senior Danyelle McCowan was just a little girl, she used to watch her aunt, who was a cheerleader, during ball games.
McCowan liked watching her perform to musical routines, and thought someday that would be fun to do. So she started taking dance lessons, and Monday afternoon all her hard work paid off as she signed to dance at Eastern Kentucky University.
“This is a dream come true,” McCowan said.
When McCowan was a junior, her dance coach, Johnna Phelps Cessna, told her she was impressed by how much she had improved since joining the Jaguar dance team and that she could probably go on and dance in college.
To earn a spot on the team, McCowan had to compete against 25 other dancers to earn a spot as one of the 14 selected. She admits that she was nervous going to the tryouts.
“There weren’t any other seniors, just me,” McCowan said.
After she completed her routine, she had a two hour wait before she found out whether or not she made the team.
“I kept looking at my phone checking the time,” McCowan said. “That’s all I could think about.”
During the summer of 2011, McCowan was chosen as a UDA All-American Dancer, and she was a member of the North Laurel squad that won the region title in 2012. At the KDCO State Dance Championships, the Jaguars placed third in hip-hop, fourth in jazz, and sixth in pom.
“She will be greatly missed by her teammates and coaches,” her coach said.
“I will have to work on my technique,” McCowan said. “In college the dancers are so advanced. I would also like to give thanks to Myrtle Williams, my coach at East Bernstadt."
sports@sentinel-echo.com
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