Pahrump Valley senior McKenna Cunningham joins UNR pom team
McKenna Cunningham spent her junior year touring dance programs and watching costs, then earned a spot on UNR’s pom team by choosing fit over hype.
Pahrump Valley High School senior McKenna Cunningham turned a long search for the right college dance home into a spot on the University of Nevada, Reno pom team, a path shaped less by recruiting pressure than by travel, planning and the realities of leaving Pahrump for campus life in Reno.
Cunningham spent her junior year attending dance clinics and visiting schools in several states, including programs in Arizona, to see how different teams worked. She applied to about 11 colleges and was accepted to all of them, but the decision came down to more than admissions letters. Cunningham wanted to keep dancing in college without joining a competition-heavy program, and she wanted a team that still left room for academics, campus life and a full college experience.
That fit led her to the Nevada Spirit Program, where pom emphasizes different styles of dance, dance tricks, cheers and sideline dance. The program also includes cheer, stunt and mascot teams, and it is built around athletic spirit, appearances and community service. For Cunningham, that balance mattered as much as the school name on the front of the letterhead. It gave her a way to stay in performance while moving into one of Nevada’s largest university environments.
The practical side of the process was just as important. UNR says newly admitted Fall 2026 students had until June 15, 2026, to be considered for financial aid and scholarships, a reminder that cost can shape whether a student from Nye County can make a college choice work. The Spirit Program’s 2026 tryout page listed an application deadline of April 30, a tryout weekend that began May 8, a $75 nonrefundable payment at check-in and a $500 spirit fee or fundraiser for selected members. The program also says pom and cheer practices run Tuesday through Thursday afternoons, and fall class schedules must stay open during those times.
For Pahrump students hoping to follow a similar path into college athletics or performance teams, Cunningham’s route shows the work starts early. It can mean traveling beyond Southern Nevada to compare programs, saving for application and tryout costs, and making sure academic schedules leave room for practices. It also means looking closely at whether a program is built around elite competition or game-day spirit, because that difference can decide whether a student thrives or burns out.
At UNR, founded in 1874, Cunningham will join a campus that offers more than 560 majors, minors, graduate and certificate programs, along with 17 NCAA Division I athletics teams and more than 300 student clubs and organizations. For a Pahrump student who planned carefully instead of chasing the most visible option, the move reflects a college path built on fit, affordability and staying connected to performance.
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