LSU Tiger Girls are National Champions after receiving a near perfect score for their hip hop routine, “Like a Boy” at the Universal Dance Associated Championship in Orlando, Florida on Sunday. 

It has been over a decade since the Hip Hop National Championship title returned to Baton Rouge, with the team’s last top-score in 2010. After a year of the COVID-19 pandemic, while other university sports programs were allowed to participate in their regular season, the Tiger Girls could not. Pauline Zernott, the Tiger Girls director of operations, said that last year’s absence from competition only made the squad “more hungry” for this year’s title.

Shortly after the scorers gave the Tiger Girls their score and the trophy was hoisted, their hip hop routine would go viral on social media platforms, showing that it was more than a dance, it was a statement from an all-girl team who can not only compete with but beat co-ed teams. 

“‘Like a Boy’ was curated and choreographed specifically for this team and all other female athletes who have been neglected in relation to their male counterparts,” Tiger Girls Assistant Coach Payton Ibos said. “Our choreographers, Carson Rowe and Sammy McFadden, were passionate about creating this routine for the positive message behind the empowerment of the female athletes in the dance industry, as well as for the recognition of dance as a collegiate sport with deserving student athletes.”

Chloe Tourelle, in her third year with the squad, knew that they had what it took for them to win. She said that the team has been training and dreaming of this position since auditions were held in April and since then they knew they had something special. 

Further, Tourelle noted that the team’s choice in costume for the “Like a Boy” routine was deliberately subtle, not to detract from the dance’s message. 

“We did not have too many rhinestones because the storyline was such a strong storyline in itself that the costume didn’t need to override that,” Tourelle said. “We just had to repeat what we did in the semi-finals, and we did.”

After what Tourelle described as countless hours of preparation for the National Championship alone, the LSU Tiger Girls are National Champions for the Hip Hop Division. The Tiger Girls also posted an eighth place finish in the Jazz division and a sixth place in cheer.   

“It feels very good,” Tourelle said. “We were very humbled. It was a long time coming.” 

“Such a journey for sure, but we did it,” Head Coach Kandace Hale said. “I still can’t believe it.”