If you have been to a Seattle University sporting event this season, you’ve probably seen the Spirit Teams on the sidelines, hyping up the crowd and supporting our Seattle U teams. But behind the performances, Seattle U’s Spirit Teams are rebuilding and preparing for nationals for the first time.

Seattle U’s Spirit Teams bring together the co-ed cheer team, dance team and mascot Rudy the Redhawk under one umbrella, supporting men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, soccer and other campus events. The teams are visible at home games and occasionally off campus as ambassadors for school spirit.

In its second year back after an eight-year hiatus, the cheer team shares practices with the longstanding dance team, working together to bring energy to campus events.

Riley Salamat, a second-year nursing major and cheer team co-captain, emphasized the group’s focus on presence and energy.

“We are the face of school spirit. We try our best to support where we can,” Salamat said.

The spirit teams are overseen by head coach Marcus Williams, who first joined as an assistant in 2022 before taking over as the head coach the following year. Joining Williams is assistant coach Angelina Spitzauer, a Seattle U dance alum.

In the past year, spirit athletes have taken on a larger slate of appearances and grown in recognition, from appearing at volleyball games and the women’s soccer’s home opener to being invited to “Rudy’s Welcome” for the first time in the program’s history. The teams have also traveled with Men’s Basketball, including last season’s trip to Las Vegas for the Western Athletic Conference Tournament.

The current teams are led by three second-year captains: Psychology Major and Dance Captain Courtney Aoki, Strategic Communications Major and Cheer Co-Captains Regan Luz and Salamat.

Their leadership roles require them to bridge communication between coaches and teammates while modeling the time management needed to be a student-athlete. Luz said the impact of that responsibility has been worth the extra work.

“The most rewarding thing is being able to lead this team. Seeing how our leadership has affected people on the team, I feel like we are doing leaps and bounds ahead from where we thought we would be last year,” Luz said.

For Aoki, who grew up dancing in Hawai’i and came to Seattle U looking for a way to continue performing, the dance team meant trying styles she had not trained in before, such as the “pom” dance style that is not particularly popular in Hawai’i.
“It was a really good opportunity to push me out of my comfort zone,” Aoki said.

Luz and Salamat both arrived from high school cheer backgrounds, but found just enough connection and challenge in the revived cheer program to keep going at a collegiate level.

Practice time ramps up considerably during competition season. The teams share most morning practices, starting at 6 a.m. and running past 8 a.m., with additional evening practices several days a week for choreography. These rehearsals layer on top of long-game days during overlapping sports seasons, with athletes moving from class to practices to events in a tight rotation.

Williams said that even throughout the long days, consistency has become one of the group’s biggest assets.

“One of the biggest strengths that they have is the willingness to show up. That is the first step,” Williams said.

Coaches also ask athletes to participate in the program’s fundraising, including outreach to sponsors and participation in Seattle U Gives. Spirit athletes, many involved in other campus organizations, are expected to maintain their coursework while sustaining this schedule, especially as nationals approaches immediately following winter break.
Spitzauer said that coaches want the workload to translate into long-term growth for athletes.

“A big thing we want to do is set them up for the future, because at the end of the day, this is college. We want to lead them to their next steps,” Spitzauer said.

The dedication is paying off as both teams prepare for their first national competition together. The 2026 UDA/UCA College Nationals take place Jan. 16 to 18 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla., where college teams from across the country will compete for national titles.

Universal Cheerleaders Association (UCA) nationals focus on competitive cheerleading, emphasizing stunts and pyramids. In contrast, Universal Dance Association (UDA) nationals focus on competitive dance with divisions in different styles like jazz, pom and hip-hop. The spirit teams will be competing in a category together.

This marks a milestone for the program as athletes showcase the skills they have learned through months of extensive training.

For Williams and Spitzauer, success this year would mean positive results in Orlando and athletes who leave the program prepared for their next steps in dance, cheer or other careers.

“The goal is to always be better than you were yesterday. As competitors, the goal is to win. I want my teams to feel what it is like to win,” Williams said.

With rising visibility and support from athletics and more campus involvement, the Seattle U Spirit teams hope nationals will highlight the behind-the-scenes work and encourage more students to see spirit as a serious athletic avenue and a core part of the Redhawk identity.