LSU cheerleader Jessica Spitale was named Cheerleader of the Year by FOX Sports’ “The College Experiment” on April 7.Spitale, a communication studies senior and cheerleading captain, won the finals with an overwhelming majority against Mackenzie Weeks from Florida State. She also defeated Brooke Robertson from the University of Texas and Katelynn Johnson from the University of Oregon in the Semifinals.The eight contestants for the semifinals were chosen by the contestant officials, but the winner was chosen by online votes.At the beginning of the tournament, each contestant filmed an interview, which was posted on the tournament’s Web site.Spitale said she had support from friends from grammar school, old teachers, LSU alumni, members of the military and fans of other SEC schools.”I got a hundred e-mails from people congratulating me,” Spitale said. “I’ve had so much support from friends and people I don’t know.”Spitale said her boyfriend started a Facebook group called “Vote LSU’s JESSICA for Cheerleader of the Year.” It had more than 1,800 members by the end of the contest.Spitale said the contest officials said no contestant had ever had as many votes as she did. She said the spokesperson for Cheerleader of the Year told her LSU must have a really great fan base.Spitale said she was on spring break at the beach with about 20 other LSU cheerleaders when she found out she won. But, she said she knew when the polls closed because they showed her ahead by about 30 percent.Other contestants were from the University of Southern California, the University of Florida, Arizona State University and Oregon State.Contestants began the tournament divided into four geographical brackets: North, South, East and West, and the two cheerleaders in each bracket competed against each other to advance to the semifinals.Spitale said she was the only actual cheerleader in the contest, and the others were dancers.Contestants were chosen based on photographs submitted from universities all over the country. Of all submissions, only eight were chosen to compete.Spitale said she didn’t know anything about the contest until a few weeks ago, and she didn’t know her photos had been submitted.Spitale said she has been cheering since she was in grade school, and she also did gymnastics and diving.Spitale has cheered for LSU football, men’s basketball, volleyball and gymnastics during the past four years. She will continue to cheer for a fifth year.She currently writes for American Cheerleader Magazine.—Contact Joanna Zimmerman at [email protected]