Limestone Athletics
Ernest Meyers, Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations
GAFFNEY – The Limestone University Athletics Department and Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Mike Cerino have announced that Chad Butler has been promoted to head cheer coach.
Butler, who has served as the assistant cheer coach with the Saints over the past two years, replaces Hailey Martin as the head coach. In addition to her role as Senior Woman Administrator, Martin was recently named the Assistant Athletic Director for Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement.
“We are happy and fortunate to have Coach Butler already on staff to step right in and take over Limestone’s highly-respected cheer program,” Cerino said. “He brings a lot of knowledge to the position, and we know that his previous experiences as a head coach will make this a seamless transition.”
In his two years as an assistant on the cheer staff, Butler has helped guide the competitive team to a pair of bids at the NCA College Cheer Camp. The Saints earned a Silver Paid Bid during his first year with the program before helping lead the team to a Gold Bid for the first time in program history this past season.
The Blue and Gold won Grand Champion honors at the Cheer LTD College Championships in Myrtle Beach during the 2018-19 campaign, posting a zero-deduction routine to take home both the Small Coed Collegiate Division and overall Grand Champion trophies with a combined score of 91.4 points.
The Saints then scored a second zero-deduction routine on the first day of NCA Nationals – the program’s fourth straight trip to nationals in the Small Coed Division II category – and would end up placing fourth overall with the program’s highest point total in team history with a two-day 92.0375 score.
Limestone earned a Gold Bid for the first time in team history this past year, but the competition season was ended early due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Butler temporarily assisted with the Limestone Acrobatics and Tumbling team in 2020 before its season also came to a premature close.
“I am very excited to take this next step in my career,” Butler said. “I am honored that Coach Martin trusted me to continue to grow the program she created and am thankful for all of the knowledge she has shared with me. I would also like to thank Coach Cerino for his trust in giving me this opportunity.”
Prior to his time at Limestone, Butler was the cheer and dance coach at Seward County Community College and was as an assistant coach at Young Harris College for a year. He was a member of the cheer team at Shorter University, helping guide the team to four straight top-3 finishes at NCA Nationals.