Last Saturday Vermont beat UMass Lowell 66-61 in the America East tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to this week’s NCAA tournament. The Catamounts have now won 23+ games for the 3rd straight year and are heading to the NCAA tourney for the 3rd straight year. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Vermont dancer Jenna Boardman about her team’s remarkable run.
You are from Halifax, MA: what made you choose Vermont? I initially looked into UVM after learning about the Medical Center right on campus! After touring, I knew it would be a great fit for both my academic interests as well as dancing. The beautiful campus and amazing people here also made it an easy decision.
You are majoring in Biology with minors in Emergency Medical Services and Dance: why did you choose those subjects? My end goal is to be a Physician Assistant, so my Biology major and EMS minor really help me with that. All of my biology courses check off PA school prerequisites as well as give me a solid foundation for the heavy course load of graduate school. My EMS minor gives me hands-on experience in the medical field: it allowed me to become a certified Emergency Medical Technician and gain research hours working in the Emergency Department, all for class credit. My Dance minor was a late add-on when I realized I had some extra room in my schedule and could fill it with one of my non-medical passions! My Dance minor classes are definitely stress-relieving classes and help me get a break from the rigorous STEM courses.
You are a senior: what is the post-graduation plan? I will be staying here in Burlington for another year while applying to Physician Assistant schools. My plan is to keep my job as a medical assistant at UVMMC and well volunteer as a Doula at the hospital too. Hopefully after next year I will be off to PA school somewhere!
You work as a Building Manager at the school’s Student Center and as a Medical Assistant at the school’s Medical Center: how on earth do you balance your work on the dance team with your work in the classroom with your work at your multiple jobs?! It is a very fine balance and I rely a lot on my Google calendar to keep me on track! I enjoy staying busy so I definitely pack my days full. Thankfully, both of my jobs are flexible and allow me to change around my schedule if needed for dance. Our practices are also late at night so I like to work earlier in the morning and fill the middle of the day with classes.
How long have you been dancing for, and what is the best part of being on the dance team? I have been dancing since I was 3 years old! My favorite part of being on the dance team has to be the people. Not only are my teammates and coach amazing, but the Vermont Basketball community is as well. Some of my favorite experiences at UVM have been sold-out games at Patrick Gym where you can feel the energy/passion.
What was your favorite memory from this season: beating Yale in December, Senior Night win vs. UMass Lowell earlier this month, other? While the Yale game was an absolutely amazing win, I have to say the Senior Night game was extra special! Having my parents/friends there to support me at my final regular season game meant the world to me, and the fact that it was a great game made it even better!
How does your school decide who gets to go to the NCAA tourney, and what will it mean to you to see your team doing its thing in front of a national TV audience? Our school brings 6 dancers and 6 cheerleaders to the NCAA tournament when we make it. For the Dance Team, our Coach Lynn makes the final decision, but in order to eligible for consideration we have to be willing to stay for all of the Men’s and Women’s basketball games that occur over our Spring Break and be able to miss up to a weeks’ worth of classes. We come from a smaller school so we love the chance to show what we can do as a team. We love being in a large stadium with a jumbotron and it is crazy to receive texts after the game with pictures of us on TV! This is such an amazing chance to represent our team and really try to make the most of it, which I love.
This is your school’s 3rd NCAA tourney in a row: did you get to dance in Buffalo in 2022/Columbus in 2023? Yes! It has been such a fun experience to be on the court for 3 America East Tournament wins as well! I traveled to Columbus last year which was so much fun too. I am excited to see how this year turns out.
Does your squad have anything extra-special planned for Brooklyn? We will have a couple of new timeout performances that will be performed to our Pep Band’s music!
Any predictions for your game on Friday vs. Duke? We are a very superstitious team so I do not want to jinx anything…but I know the basketball team will bring everything it has got!