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!
Kyndall coaches our Lavender and Violet all star cheer teams.
Madi Cantrell
Madi is from Cleveland, Tennessee and was a highly competitive gymnasts for 11 years before becoming a cheerleader. She cheered at Lees McRare all four years and was captain there, as well as being a pole vaulter on the track team. She is currently the office manager for Dr Bailey Chiropractic in Boone.
Madi coaches our Violet and Amethyst cheer teams.
Emma Heaney
Emma is a 2x national champion from Winston Salem that cheered at Cheer Extreme Allstars. She was also a varsity cheerleader all 4 years of high school, served as captain, worked with a special needs team nd won a bronze medal at Worlds! She is a political science pre-law major at App State.
Emma coaches tumbling classes and is available for private lessons
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.
Casey coaches private tumbling lessons.
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.
Madison coaches our Amethyst all star cheer team.
Tori Lentz
Tori is a Boone native and first discovered cheerleading when she was only 6 years old! She's also tried swimming, volleyball and dance. She is currently a student at App State and was a Watauga High School Varsity cheerleader.
Tori coaches Sunday tumbling classes.
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.
Abby coaches Sunday tumbling classes and specialty clinics.
Mallory Spagnoletti
Meet Mallory! She is from Elkin, NC and was a gymnast for 5 years before becoming an all star competitive cheerleader for 8. Mallory is a recent Appalachian State graduate that works as a tumbling coach with us and also a painting instructor at Let’s Be Artsy!
Mallory coaches Sunday tumbling classes and specialty clinics.
