Season Review
The Cougarettes, Cheer and STUNT and Cosmo continued to shine and as they performed for
fans and represented the Cougar faithful. Here are a few highlights from the past year.
New Cougarette Coaches
In April, BYU Director of Athletics Tom Holmoe announced the hiring of Stacy Bills and Morgan
St. Pierre as co-coaches of the Cougarettes. The two will take over from longtime coach Jodi
Maxfield who retired after 30 years and 19 national championships.
Originally from Provo, Utah, Bills attended BYU on dance scholarship where she was a member
of the Cougarettes for three years and dance captain twice. She was featured on the nationally
televised shows, So You Think You Can Dance and Star Search, where she made it to the finals.
Bills was crowned Miss Utah in 2003 and was a non-finalist talent award winner at Miss
America. She later performed with the professional company, Odyssey Dance Theatre.
Since 2003, Bills has directed dance at various studios and in 2013, 2017, 2019 the studios she
worked for were named National Studio of the Year. Bills also trained National Best Dancer
award winners in 2013, 2016 and 2017 and was nominated for the National Choreographer of
the Year in 2013 and 2019. Bills studied exercise science at BYU and is married to former BYU
football safety KC Bills. The couple have five children.
St. Pierre came to BYU from Cottonwood Heights, Utah, where she became a four-year member
of the Cougarettes and served as an officer for two years. As a dancer, St. Pierre performed at
the Daytime Emmy Awards, as a company member of StarStruck Dance Academy and
performed with the Cougarettes at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. For nearly 20
years, St. Pierre has taught and choreographed for studios and dance teams throughout Utah,
Idaho, Colorado and Hawaii, including two years as the assistant coach of the Cougarettes
under Maxfield. She was also the head drill team coach at Bingham High School, where she led
the Minerettes to five state titles in seven years. St. Pierre has also won several choreography,
costuming and performance awards associated with her work, locally, nationally and
internationally at the New Prague Dance Festival. St. Pierre studied industrial design at BYU.
She is married to current BYU rugby head coach Steve St. Pierre; the couple have three
children.
A Legend Retires
Longtime Cougarettes Coach Jodi Maxfield retired after 30 years at BYU. Maxfield led the
Cougarettes to 19 NDA Collegiate Cheer & Dance National Titles, two United Spirit Association
National Championships, a Dance Team Union College Classic Title and two Prague Dance
Festival Grand Prix Championships.
Under Maxfield’s guidance, the Cougarettes won five NDA Open Division/Jazz IA championships (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019), six NDA Hip Hop Division IA championships (2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019) and eight NDA Team Performance Division IA championships (1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010). They were also United Spirit Association National Champions in 2005 and 2006.
In 2003 and 2004, she was recognized as one of the Nation's Outstanding Directors. From 2018-20 she served as president of the National Dance Coaches Association College Coaches
Division.
Cheer Squad
BYU Cheer and STUNT again brought crowds to their feet at Cougar sporting events but also
gave to the community as well, including serving breakfast to the homeless with the nonprofit
group Pancake Peeps, supporting the Primary Children’s Medical Center at the annual Festival
of Trees event and hosting children’s cheer clinics.
Cosmo and the Dunk Team
This year, Cosmo was awarded what Cougar fans have known for years – the title of best
mascot in the nation. After initially not being placed in the original bracket, Cosmo was a late
entry to the SiriusXM Mascot Championship where fans could vote in matchups between
collegiate mascots over the course of multiple weeks. Cosmo faced a formidable foe in the
finals in Western Kentucky’s Big Red, but ultimately came out on top.
Of course, Cosmo did plenty to deserve the national title, with multiple viral moments
throughout the year.