Meet Our Team

Hi! I'm Amanda Christine Power Hood, but you can call me Mandi or "Coach." I moved to Boone, NC in the spring of 2019 from New York City, and started Mountain Elite in summer of 2020! You can follow me for pictures of current classes and our local athletes @mountainelite on Instagram!

Experience 

• Owner and Program Director of Mountain Elite 

• Head Coach of St. John's University Cheer in NYC (Division I, Big East Conference 2014-2019)

• Cheer and dance judge for UCA and NCA competitions

• STUNT official for the Public School Athletic League of NYC

• Camp, clinic, choreography instructor for youth, high school, and college teams

• St. John's University co-ed cheer team captain 

• Quest Athletics competitive athlete in Pine Bush, NY 

Certifications:

• US All Star Federation (USAF) Member Coach 

• USA Cheer Safety & Risk Management

• USA Cheer - Coaching Young Athletes

• SafeSport Trained (Athlete Protection Education)

• CDC Heads Up - Concussion Training

• Red Cross First Aid for Coaches

Kyndall Bennett

Kyndall is from Gastonia, NC and has been cheering since she was 8 years old including in high school and on an all star team. She also helped coach her former all star team before attending and graduating from App State. Kyndall was the coach of our very first team in Boone!

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Kyndall coaches our Lavender and Violet all star cheer teams.

Kenzie Porter

Kenzie is a senior at Appalachian State on the coed cheer team. She's from Cherryville, NC and has cheered since she was 5 years old and won 8 state championship titles with her high school team.  She has experience with UCA and choreographing routines for teams of all ages and experience levels.

Madison Cansler

Madison is a junior at Appalachian State University. She's from Shelby, NC has been cheerleading since she was 7 years old! She has experience with choreography and spotting various tumbling skills. 

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Madison coaches our Amethyst all star cheer team.

Abby Swanner

Abby is a junior at Appalachian State University from Greenville, NC. She started cheering when she was only 4 and continued in middle school, high school and on a competitive team. She coached at her former gym. 

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Abby coaches Sunday tumbling classes and specialty clinics. 

Casey Gore

Casey comes to us from Gastonia, NC where she was an All Star cheerleader for 12 years. She's performed on all levels 1-6 and has competed at Worlds, Summit, D2 Summit (and WON D2 Summit with her team in 2020!). Casey is a freshman at App State studying Nursing and Business. 

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Casey coaches private tumbling lessons.