History

The Cougarettes were originally established in 1946. In 1998, "Dance Spirit" magazine named the Cougarettes as one of the top 25 collegiate dance teams in the nation, and in the year 2000, the Cougarettes began performing with the Cheer Squad at sporting competitions in halftime performances.[2]

As of 2019, the Cougarettes have won 19 national championships since 1997: five National Dance Alliance (NDA) Open Division/Jazz IA championships (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019), five NDA Hip Hop Division IA championships (2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2019)[3], eight NDA Team Performance Division IA championships (1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010), and one Dance Team Union Hip Hop Division IA title (2017).[4] They were also United Spirit Association National Champions in 2005 and 2006,[4] and they won first prize in the New Prague Dance Festival in 2012.[5][6]