University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Seymour Taking Part in National Mascot Competition
1/8/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Seymour Taking Part in National Mascot Competition
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- As the University of Southern Mississippi mascot, it's Seymour's job to help cheer Golden Eagle sports teams to victory.
This week, however, Seymour will be competing for himself.
Following review of a submitted video, judges for the University Cheerleaders Association have ranked Seymour sixth among 14 mascots selected from across the country, earning Southern Miss a chance to compete for UCA's national champion mascot Friday, Jan. 11, at MGM Studios in Orlando, Fla.
Southern Miss students Jamie Arrington, John Mills and Amonde Younger take turns donning the Seymour costume. They are coached by Andre Carter.
"We're real excited to go," said Arrington, a senior from Hattiesburg who will perform as Seymour at the competition, which includes a one-and-a-half minute performance. "A lot of the other mascots are backed by a long tradition and bigger budgets, but we're going to give it our best shot."
Mills, a junior from Hattiesburg, and Younger, a senior from Vicksburg, will assist Arrington with props and other stage equipment at the performance, which will be a variation of game-day themes.
In the last three years, Seymour has gone from limited notoriety to a national rating and will face talented competition among the 14 schools that include Tennessee, Auburn, Kentucky, LSU, Alabama and Delaware at the Orlando event.
Arrington said the submitted video included footage of Seymour performing at Southern Miss athletic events and other campus activities, as well as at community service projects such as visits with Big Brothers/Big Sisters. UCA judges based their decision on criteria that included crowd involvement, cheering, dancing and band integration, and community service. Arrington said Tennessee's mascot, Smokey, won the competition last year.
Southern Miss's mascot has been the Golden Eagle since 1972, when the school' student body voted on a new mascot after the school's athletic teams had been known for years as the Southerners.
"Being selected for this competition speaks volumes about the level to which Seymour and the USM mascot program has been elevated," said Paul Batchelder, Southern Miss assistant athletic director. "We're excited about the national exposure and the attention of national competition."
