BRIDGEWATER, Va. -- Bridgewater College Director of Athletics Curt Kendall has announced Lexia Werner as the new head cheerleading coach, which was announced by the department on Tuesday evening.

"I am really excited to be a part of the Bridgewater Athletics community as the head coach for cheerleading," said Werner. "With my passion and experience, I am thrilled to help grow our cheerleading program and I hope to make the team successful by having more student-athletes involved and more presence on and off campus. I want to give back to our community and be role models for the youth of cheerleading in our local area."

No stranger to Bridgewater, Werner is a 2022 graduate from the College and was a four-year captain of the cheer team. In addition to being the captain of the program, she earned a Golden Wing Award at the annual year-end Golden Eagle Award Ceremony two times. Werner was also a cheerleading SAAC rep for all four years in the Crimson & Gold. On top of her time as a student-athlete, Werner was also an intern in the College president's office, spent time working in the Office of Institutional Advancement, served as senior class secretary, a student rep for BCSA, a Spanish tutor, president of the Active Minds club, member of Morgan's Message, a peer mentor in BC United, a member of the Philomathes Honor Society and has been named the permanent class president for the class of 2022. 

"We are excited to have Lexia join the department in the roll of head cheerleading coach," said Kendall. "Werner was an excellent role model during her time as a team captain and was a great ambassador for the College as a whole. We look forward to working with Werner as the cheerleading team continues to grow into the future."

Previously, Werner served as the acrobatics teacher at InMotion School of Dance located in Harrisonburg. She created tumbling, stunt and lift combinations for students and assisted students with tumbling and stunt techniques.

"I want all BC cheerleaders to be leaders of the college and support all athletic teams within our department. By being brand ambassadors for the college, we will help BC become successful and connected within athletics and student organizations on campus," continued Werner. "I can't wait to start my first cheer season this fall! Let's go Eagles!"

In addition to her role with InMotion, Werner is a second grade teacher at Keister Elementary School, which is part of the Harrisonburg City Public School system. Before becoming a full-time teacher at the school, Werner served as a student teacher during the spring 2022 semester and also led summer school for the past two summers.