Former local athletes help Boise State Spirit Squad make history

BOISE, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — The Boise State Spirit Squad is back in Idaho after bringing home two trophies from the UCA College Nationals.

Held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, 144 schools represented 44 states, competing in various divisions.

The Broncos qualified for the finals for the first time and finished fourth in Small Co-ed Division 1A. They also took 6th place in Game Day. Both accomplishments were the highest placement in program history for all in-person competition.

Four of the members hail from the Magic Valley, in Chanel Chandler, Jailyn Gartner, Braxton Morfin and Prisila Villasenor. We caught up with upperclassmen, Chandler and Gartner Wednesday on the experience.

Especially in comparison to 2021 where not everyone competed in person, this was a huge accomplishment.

“It was really cool we were able to still beat those big teams like Ole Miss, and we were still competing against Tennessee and those big large co-ed teams and we’re small co-ed,” Chandler said.

“We’ve gotten better every single year and to place in the top 10 in one division and top five in another division, it was something super special to me, especially with it being my last year,” Gartner said. “I was super happy in how we performed and I couldn’t have asked for anything better.”

The Broncos were the only Mountain West school competing against programs within the AAC, Big 10, C-USA, SEC and Sun Belt Conference.

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