STUNT Athlete Recognized at Women’s Sports Foundation’s Annual Salute to Women in Sports

Memphis, Tenn., October 21, 2015 – USA Cheer is proud to announce that Kaitlyn Sexton, a STUNT athlete was recognized at the Women’s Sports Foundation Annual Salute to Women in Sports. Kaitlyn took the stage as part of a procession of female athletes during the annual banquet recognizing excellence in women’s sports on October 20 in New York City.

Billie Jean King founded the Women’s Sports Foundation in 1974 with the goal of advancing the lives of girls and women through sports and physical activity. This year marks the 36th year that the Women’s Sports Foundation has hosted the event, which recognizes athletes from every sport from basketball to snowboarding. This is the second time an athlete from STUNT has been recognized by the foundation.

“The Women’s Sports Foundation supports STUNT’s mission to ensure girls and women are provided the same educational experience that boys receive, with comparable numbers of competitions, squad sizes, scholarships, and a standard competitive format,” said Deborah Slaner Larkin, Chief Executive Officer of the Women’s Sports Foundation. “We were delighted to have STUNT represented among the accomplished women here tonight.”

Created by USA Cheer to be an additional sport option for female athletes, STUNT was derived from traditional cheerleading and developed to become a new varsity sport for women and girls at the high school and college level. STUNT removes the crowd-leading element of traditional cheerleading and focuses on the technical and athletic components, which include partner stunts, pyramids, basket tosses, jumps and tumbling skills.

“I couldn’t be more proud of Kaitlyn, who has proven herself as a member of both the Hofstra University coed team and STUNT team, and as a member of USA Cheer, representing the United States in a world championship,” said Bill Seely, President of USA Cheer, which developed the sport of STUNT. “Having a STUNT athlete recognized by the Women’s Sports Foundation is a testament to the hard work of the athletes, and the foresight of so many college programs that have embraced this exciting emerging sport.”

Kaitlyn received a Bachelor’s degree in Public Relations from Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY. While at Hofstra, she competed in Division I Small Coed at the National College Cheerleading Championship, where the team placed first in 2012, 2013 and 2015, as well as the UCA Partner Stunt Championship, where the all-girl partner stunt group placed first in 2013 and 2015. In addition to placing first in the 2011 European Open in Paris, Kaitlyn was a member of the USA Cheer National All Girl team in 2015, which took home first place at the International Cheer Union’s World Championship.

For more information about STUNT, please contact Sheila Noone at 901-251-5959, or media@usacheer.org.