Lyon College Director of Athletics Kevin Jenkins has announced the hiring of Jennifer Arnold as the head coach for the Lyon College cheerleading and competitive dance teams during July 2019. Arnold, a native of Knoxville, Tenn., has a strong background in cheer and dance, which includes owning Independence Elite in town.
Arnold competed in gymnastics for 10 years, attending six National Championship and one World Championship as a member of Team USA before switching to cheerleading in high school. Arnold began cheerleading in high school in Knoxville, Tenn., where she earned All-American Accolades each year before moving on to a competitive cheer team in college—Premier Athletics in Knoxville, which is a club-ran organization. While at Premier Athletics, she also danced for three years. Arnold and her team at Premier Athletics competed at National Championships each year, placing in the top 5 each time and in World Championships each year, which included a top 10 finish each year.
She began coaching at Premier Athletics for seven years, where she was in charge of tumbling for all of the squads. She also served as the coach for the co-ed squad for three years.
Following her time at Premier Athletics, Arnold coached at Aspire Gymnastics in Fayetteville, Ark., where she served as the Tumbling Program Director. She opened up the Acro-Dance Tumbling program for Aspire Gymnastics.
In 2016, Arnold opened her gym in Batesville – Independence Elite. Independence Elite holds tumbling classes for dance and gymnastics for boys and girls, as well as, serving as a premier gym for cheerleading.
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