Megan McCasland

TECH CHEER AUSTIN DIRECTOR

Although Megan was born in Seattle in 1993 to Tumble Tech founders Danielle and Rob Wills and lived there until the family's move to Austin in 1996, Megan is a true Austin original. Growing up in the Eanes school district, Megan graduated from Westlake High School in 2012 and went on to graduate from Austin's St. Edwards University in May 2016 at the top of her class with a Degree in Elementary Education. Megan has always been passionate about teaching children and began coaching gymnastics at age 16. She loves helping kids of all ages excel in the classroom, and in the tumbling and cheerleading gym.

Starting at age four with gymnastics and dance, Megan has been engaged in athletics including soccer, cheerleading, and gymnastics at an advanced level. Always a perfectionist with her tumbling and performances, Megan transitioned to competitive cheerleading at age ten, eventually going on to cheer on World Champion Cheer Athletics teams Panthers and Fierce Cats. Ultimately, Megan went on to be captain of the Westlake High School varsity cheerleading team.

ISAIAH BAIRD

CHEER COACH

Coach Isaiah was born & raised in El Paso, Texas. Isaiah’s cheerleading journey started at age 12 at a Small All Star Gym called, Knight Time Cheer. At KTC, he was able to compete & win NCA in numerous divisions. At age 14, he began Junior Coaching with lower levels. After All Star cheer & 2 years in High School Cheer, Isaiah moved from El Paso to attend the University of Texas at Austin. He is studying to achieve his Bachelors in Kinesiology & Health. Also while at UT, he has become a member & Co-Captain of Orange Squad, the Coed Cheerleading Team. Working at the WACC, Isaiah is teaching multiple classes varying skill sets.

CHARLIE FLOWERS

CHEER COACH & CHOREOGRAPHER

Coach Jessie was a cheerleader at Morehead State University where she won Coed Division I National titles in 2016, 2017, and 2018. She was also a UCA Coed Partner Stunt National Champion in 2017. Coach Jessie graduated from Morehead with a Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Design. She has been a UCA instructor for 14 years, including 10 years on the UCA College Circuit. She assisted in coaching the competitive cheer teams from the NRC Tigers Gym in Norway and helped them win four program national titles in 2018 and two in 2019. Coach Jessie was the Co-Head Coach at Missouri Valley College from 2019-2021 and brought home back-to-back conference and regional championship titles.

HAILEY SCOTT

CHEER COACH

Coach Hailey is from Hutto, Texas. She started her cheerleading career in Middle School. From cheering through Middle school to Highschool as well as cheering at Texas Allstar Cheer in Pflugerville, Hailey decided to continue her cheer career and cheer at The Unviersity of Texas at Arlington and latering transfering to The University of Texas at Austin. Hailey will be obtaining her Bachelors degree in Government and Black Studies this upcoming spring and then pursuing her acting career. From competing at Daytona to cheering on the sidelines at one of the biggest game day schools, Hailey has shown a strong loving passion for the sport.

ANTHONY ALVARADO

CLINICS DIRECTOR

Anthony was born in Grand Island, Nebraska where he was a gymnast for 9 years at his local gym before moving to Iowa and discovering cheer. Upon moving to Des Moines he began cheering on his highschool team as well as All Star teams. At 16 Anthony was offered a position at Chow’s Gymnastics and Dance Institute, where he taught all levels of tumbling and gymnastics. After graduating Anthony continued his education at the University of Missouri- where he cheered all 4 years while completing his bachelors degree in psychology. While working on his degree he coached numerous teams at all levels; before leaving Missouri for Texas he head coached a senior level 3 team which reached the finals at the D1 summit-the first year the gym qualified.

BRANDON HERTEL

CHEER COACH

Brandon has been in the cheerleading industry for 11 years and started to peruse his passion for coaching in 2018. While getting his degree in Health and Kinesiology, he strived for greatness as both a high school and Allstar coach. With his dedication and hard work he has won many titles coaching including winning NCA in 2020. All of his teams in the past two years have received either an at-large or paid bid to the Summit. He is super excited to start his time here with Tech Cheer growing as a coach and changing kids lives while sharing his knowledge and passion for cheer.

MACKENZIE THOMAS

CHEER COACH

Makenzie “Mak” Thomas has been in the cheerleading world for 18 years. She is joining the Tumble Tech/ Tech Cheer family from Cheer Athletics, Plano where as a Worlds athlete on some of the most prestigious teams in cheer, she has won 6 NCA titles including 1 NCA grand champion title, 3 bronze, 4 silver, and 1 gold medal at the Cheerleading Worlds. Mak has also competed at prestigious invitation only competitions such as The Majors and Champions League. Mak continued her journey before coaching and cheered at Blnn Jr. College and Hawaii Pacific on their acrobatics and tumbling team. As a coach at CA Plano for the last 4 years, Coach Mak and her teams have won 5 NCA titles and have numerous D1 Summit bids! Coach Mak is excited to continue her career as a coach here at Tech Cheer and Tumble Tech!

RICO RUIZ

CHEER COACH & CHOREOGRAPHER

Rico was born and raised in Austin Tx. He graduated from Texas Tech University with a major in communications. Rico has cheered for 20+ years has won worlds back in 2008 and silver in 2017. He has also won 17 NCA High School and All-Star National Championship titles coaching and as an athlete. Rico continues to teach choreography around the United States and has won several choreography awards from NCA All-Star, High School and Collegiate Nationals.