Team USA: Wildcat world champions
Gavin Nelson
During the 2024 Summer Olympics, the world’s top athletes achieved feats of athletic excellence. The U.S. hosts the world champions of men’s and women’s basketball, along with women’s soccer. New Zealand claims the world champions of women’s rugby, Spain claims the world champions of men’s soccer and so on. But Weber State University hosts the world champions of hip-hop dance after winning the International Cheer Union World Championships.
On April 26, the WSU Dance Team, chosen to represent Team USA at the ICU World Championships in the hip-hop category, won the gold medal at the event, beating teams from England and Mexico.
“We really showed out and represented the U.S. so strong and we got to bring home that gold,” WSU dance coach Erica Jordan said. “Honestly, it was an experience that I will never forget.”
Jordan, who won gold at the world championships when she was a dancer at Arizona State University, was excited to see the other side of winning gold.
“As an athlete, I kind of knew what to expect, but as a coach, I had never experienced it,” Jordan said.
Last season was also special to Jordan, as she was able to coach her younger brother, Carter Williams.
“It’s been honestly amazing because what a blessing it is to have someone that you love truly, and to also share a passion with and also help lead a team to success,” Jordan said.
Williams, a successful dancer in his own right — finishing in the top six on the hit Fox show “So You Think You Can Dance” in 2022 — could have gone pro like his childhood friend Rylee Arnold, who is now a professional dancer on “Dancing with the Stars.” However, he came to Weber last season because he wanted to finish his degree.
“I wanted to finish it out and graduate,” Williams said. “I wanted to get a degree. That’s super important to me.”
But Williams knew there was more to be done, coming back for one last year with the Wildcats.
“This is my senior, final year of college, so I just knew I had to finish it out strong, and I knew that there was going to be something special about this upcoming year, and I have not been let down one bit,” Williams said.
The Wildcats lost many great dancers from last year, whether due to graduation, getting into dance coaching, or serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Fortunately, some great dancers joined the team as well.
Jordan has a lot of confidence in the new faces, saying, “The rookies who are new to our team have really stepped up and been like, ‘You know, you’ve achieved so much last year that we don’t want to let anyone down and push further.’”
The team will once again represent Team USA this fall when they head to Ottawa, Ontario, for the 2024 ICU Pan-American Championships in September. WSU students will also be able to watch their world champions at home sporting events.
