USU Eastern’s Spirit Squad has enjoyed a large amount of success over its five year existence, including three national championship performances. All of those titles have come under the watch of Spirit Squad director Brandi Johansen.

This past February the USU Eastern’s Spirit Squad added another national championship to the trophy case as the cheer team claimed the top spot in the “Two Year College Co-Ed Cheer Competition” at the United Spirit Association College Classic in Anaheim, California. The dance team claimed national titles at the same competition in the hip hop category in 2018 and 2019.

“To have three national championships in five years is just awesome,” said Johansen. “We’ve had Emmett the Eagle featured on the global hub of all cheer and dance in the world, so its been pretty exciting.”

Hired by USU Eastern in 2016, Johansen rebuilt the dance team, which had not existed for 10 years. The dance and cheer team, along with drum-line and mascot Emmett the Eagle are all apart of USU Eastern’s Spirit Squad.

“We have a coaching staff that all works together to combine these pieces,” said Johansen when speaking of the group. “We do a lot of things behind the scenes. There’s a lot of practices and preparation for our annual dance concert. So just a lot versatility in each sport compared to what an audience member may see at a single event.”

Graduating from the University of Utah in 2007, Johansen received her B.S. in Health Sciences, and went on to obtain her teaching license in secondary education. She taught health at Cottonwood High School and coached for the award winning Chaparrals for eight years, a program she helped implement in 2005. She led them to win many Region Titles, ranking in the top five for 4A and 5A State competitions and won numerous National Titles.

Before coaching Johansen gathered an impressive individual resume’ as a participant. Her personal accolades include: Utah All-State Drill Member, Deseret News Dance Sterling Scholar Finalist, Utah Miss Drill Team Top Ten Finalist, two-time Ririe-Woodbury Step-Up Scholarship recipient, Utah State Academic Scholarship, 2009 UDDA 4A Coach of the Year, and 2011 UDDA 5a Coach of the year.

“I’ve been dancing since I was four years old, so it has been apart of my life for over 30 years,” said Johansen. “I’ve been apart of high school and college programs, have experience in New York, danced for artists and have game day experiences throughout the country. So I was excited to bring my expertise to USU Eastern.”

Each spring USU Eastern looks for talented individuals that will best fit the USU Eastern Spirit Squad program and represent USU Eastern and its athletic department at a high standard. Those who join the team are required to attend every practice, all home games and even some away contests. In order to keep the tradition growing, coach Johansen knows exactly the type of student-athlete she is looking for.

“We are a full year sport, we don’t have just one season. We need to have students that attend class and are productive for our sport. So there is a lot we look for when building our team.”