Morgan State Head Acrobatics and Tumbling Coach Regina Smith enters her third year, second season leading the Lady Bears into 2025. Hired in 2022, Smith became the inaugural head coach of the 16th NCAA varsity sport at MSU.Â
Under Smith’s leadership the Lady Bears finished their historic inaugural season with a 2-4 record. Morgan recorded the program's first win in the sport in its first road contest, a 225.025-195.855 victory at Stevenson (3/9). A month later Morgan would earn its first home victory, defeating Bluefield State in decisive fashion, 229.110-158.925 in the home finale (4/6). Morgan's score of 235.600 in a road loss to Presbyterian (248.110) on March 22 was the highest total score in the program's history.Â
In March, the team became the first HBCU Division I all minority acrobatics and tumbling team and the first NCAA NCATA University to tour the White House in honor of Women's History Month. Smith successfully coached the highest pyramid score to date of a 9.85 out of 10.0 in Open Pyramid Heat 3.Â
The season rounded out with 13 Lady Bears named to the NCATA Academic Honor Roll achieving a 3.30 GPA or higher; and the team completing over 400 community service hours throughout the year.
To date, Morgan is the first and only Historically Black College or University (HBCU) Division I program to offer the sport and only the third school in Maryland (Frostburg State University and Stevenson University) to add acrobatics and tumbling. Morgan joined the National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association (NCATA), a discipline of USA Gymnastics, as its 40th member.
During her coaching career, Smith has captured over 30 National Championship college and high school titles and 50-plus top-three finishes for cheerleading, dance, gymnastics, and mascots at the collegiate level.
Smith comes to Morgan after serving as head collegiate cheerleading official for the NAIA East Region from 2014-21. She spent two years as the head cheerleading coach at Otterbein University from 2016-18 and served as a volunteer associate head cheerleading coach at Ohio State University in 2014.
Smith had a two-year stint as the head acrobatics and tumbling coach, as well as spirit coordinator at Adrian College (2012-14), where she guided the program in its inaugural NCAA season in 2012.
Prior to Adrian College, Smith was a spirit coordinator and adjunct professor for two years at Ottawa University (2010-12) and spent three years at Thiel College as a spirit coordinator and head cheer and dance coach from 2007-10. While at Thiel, she created and implemented the school's mascot (Tommy Tomcat) and fight song.
Her coaching career began in 2006 at Bolingbrook High School in Illinois, where she was the head dance coach and advisor.Â
Smith graduated from Illinois State University in 2006 with a degree in Business Communications and Mathematics Education and received her Master's degree in Business Administration from Point Park University in 2009.
Smith is married to Jeurell Smith and they have a son Langdon, and a daughter Olivia.
