On campus

Awesome Eagle qualifies for mascot nationals

Awesome Eagle qualified for mascot nationals for the first time in Tech history.

Awesome will be attending UCA’s 2012 College Mascot National Championship in Orlando, Fla., in January.

“In a preliminary round, the top five mascots in Awesome’s division are chosen,” Spirit Squad Coordinator Robin Burroughs said. “Last year, Awesome placed eighth. This year he placed third out of 12.”

To enter the preliminary round, the Spirit Squad put together an entry video showing Awesome in different situations.

“The video had to show Awesome’s involvement during game days and throughout the community,” a spokesperson for Awesome said. “It included showing school spirit on and off campus, as well as community service.”

A committee of UCA judges then scored the video based on the situations, overall character development, and overall impression, according to the UCA rulebook. The video score is worth 50 percent of each mascot’s total score.

The other half of the score is determined by performing a skit.

“Each of the top five mascots will perform in January,” Awesome’s spokesperson said. “The skit can be up to a minute and a half long, and up to 10 props can be used.”

They are judged on crowd interaction, creativity, enthusiasm, prop usage, and the overall impression, according to the rulebook.

Over the next two months, Awesome will be performing new skits at basketball games. The audience will have an opportunity to pick which skit they think Awesome should perform at nationals. Awesome will also be performing old skits with Grandpappy and the Nestkeepers. The old skits are a dance battle, video games, the circus, and “Grease.”

Awesome will be competing against the University of Delaware’s YoUDee, Villanova University’s Will D. Cat, Arkansas State University’s Howl, and the University of South Alabama’s SouthPaw.

The Spirit Squad is selling “This is What Awesome Looks Like” t-shirts to raise money for competition expenses. The Purple and Gold Nestkeepers can be seen wearing these shirts at events. More information about ordering a shirt and supporting Awesome’s trip to nationals can be found on the Nestkeepers’ Facebook pages.

To watch Awesome’s entry video, go to youtube.com/AwesomeEagleTTU