UT Dallas moves cheer, dance and Temoc under its athletics department and hires two spirit coaches

The university's athletics department now oversees the Comet cheer squad, the Power Dancers and mascot Temoc, and has named a UT Tyler spirit director as head cheer coach and a Richardson dance director to lead the dance team.

UT Dallas has moved its cheerleaders, dance team and mascot under the athletics department, the university announced Wednesday afternoon.

The Department of Athletics now oversees cheer, the Power Dancers and Temoc, the Comets' mascot. The university said the change ties the spirit groups more closely to the department's game-day and fan programs.

"Bringing the spirit programs under the athletics umbrella is a direct investment in the student experience," Athletics Director Angela Marin said in the announcement. She said joining the department would give the spirit teams' members more resources, support and recognition.

Two new coaches

With the switch, the university hired Katie Hutto as director of spirit and head cheer coach and Annah Lee as head coach of the Power Dancers.

Hutto comes from the University of Texas at Tyler, where she had been assistant athletic director for spirit and fan experience as well as head cheer and dance coach since 2023. UT Dallas says the Patriots' spirit program grew from 10 members to more than 60 while she led it and won an NCA collegiate national championship.

A 2010 UT Tyler graduate who danced on that school's first dance team, she previously coached cheer and choreographed at Tyler Legacy High School and coached at Wylie High School.

Lee was head all-star director at a dance studio in Richardson, where she started and ran a competitive program, and has taught collegiate dancers as an instructor with the National Dance Alliance. She danced four years on Sam Houston State University's Orange Pride Dance Team, which won five NDA national titles during her time there, according to the university.

Temoc joins the department

Temoc was created by alumnus Aaron Aryanpur in 1998, the year UT Dallas joined the NCAA. The mascot appears with the cheer and dance teams at games and university events through the year.

The change comes as the Comets' basketball teams start their seasons; the women's team won its opener on the road this week.

Sources

utdcomets.com

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