University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Seymour Scores in National Mascot Competition
1/16/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Seymour Scores in National Mascot Competition
Jamie Arrington may have fallen short in his quest for a national title in collegiate mascot competition last week, but he believes his efforts, while performing as Southern Miss? Golden Eagle mascot Seymour has helped lay the foundation for a championship in the future.
Arrington, along with fellow University of Southern Mississippi students Amonde Younger and John Mills, finished seventh our of 14 entries at the University Cheerleaders Association championship last week in Orlando. In 2001, Seymour took 10th place at the same competition.
The event included 90-second skits performed by each mascot. Arrington, a senior from Hattiesburg, dressed as Seymour while Mills and Younger, who normally split time with Arrington as the USM mascot, assisted with stage props and equipment for the performance. Younger is a senior from Vicksburg and Mills is a junior from Hattiesburg.
Seymour held his own against schools with bigger budgets for their mascot program, Arrington said.
?We weren?t separated by many points,? he said of Seymour?s place in the top 10. Southern Miss finished just behind the University of Alabama mascot, Big Al, and ahead of mascots from LSU, Michigan State, Kentucky, Wisconsin, South Carolina and Northern Iowa. ?Everyone did a really good job,? Arrington said.
The University of Delaware?s Blue Hen mascot, YoUDee, took the championship.
?If you want to win, you?ve got to deserve it,? Arrington said of the competition. ?YoUDee deserved to win. He?s always come close before but never had the edge.?
Arrington said Seymour?s finish has established Southern Miss as a school with a competitive mascot program, and he expects Southern Miss to remain competitive for a national title well into the future.
?We?re excited about the exposure of our mascot program,? said Southern Miss Assistant Athletic Director Paul Batchelder. ?We finished ahead of some programs that have much bigger budgets to devote to their mascot program.?
Arrington, a senior from Hattiesburg, said he feels good about being a part of an effort to lay a foundation for the USM mascot program.
He said he had an opportunity to attend other schools with established mascot programs, but said he chose USM because he wanted to help build a new tradition and standard of excellence for Seymour.
?We?re getting Seymour?s name out there and the mascot program at Southern Miss,? he said. ?That will go a long way toward making us competitive for national championship.?
