Our Amazing Staff of Coaches at Houston Elite Cheer

Private Lesson Specialist

Dana Biggers is the owner and CEO of Houston Elite Cheer. Dana has been involved in gymnastics and cheerleading her entire life. In her early childhood, she was a competitive gymnast under the direction of Gary Daw at Universal Gymnastics and competed as a level 8 optional gymnast. She then switched over to cheerleading in 6th grade and fell in love with the sport. She cheered at Trinity Episcopal, Central MS and Ball High School in her hometown, Galveston. She was an NCA All-American and UCA All-Star cheerleader throughout these years.  For college, she attended Sam Houston State where she cheered, competed, and then transferred to the University of Houston and was awarded NCA All-American at the collegiate level. Dana cheered on the very first NATIONAL CHAMPION winning team at U of H in 2001 under the direction of Sean Garland. As captain her senior year, she led her team to victory and earned her first NCA National Champion collegiate title. She graduated with a degree in Political Science and Spanish. Dana has been coaching gymnastics and cheerleading for over 25 years. Dana produces incredible "game day" cheerleaders and loves to help prepare athletes for their school cheer tryouts but books up extremely fast. 

For the last 15 years, an average of 95% of the "Dana Girls" that trained with her on a weekly basis made the squad at their school/college. She is extremely talented in all aspects of cheerleading and tumbling. So if you are interested in junior high, high school, or college cheerleading, she is THE one you need to see.  

Fun fact: Dana is fluent in Spanish and has also attended law school. She is scared of clowns. Dana is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and has an 8-year old son and a 6-year old daughter.

Program Director

Mitchel "Mitch" Schlichting has been part of HEC since the doors opened! He has also been in the cheerleading arena for six years and has been coaching for over 10 years.  He started his cheer career on a Level 4 competitive team at The Pride of Texas and cheered there for three years.  After graduating from Bellaire High School, he coached tumbling classes, competitive and recreational cheer teams, and has taught private lessons to athletes 5-18 years of age.  Mitch also competed on Texas Lonestar Cheer Company's Level 6 team.  In 2013, he competed with Champion Cheer as a Level 6 athlete in Dallas.  Mitch competed at Worlds in 2013, and his team was awarded 4th place. He also competed at NCA in 2013 and 2015 as a Level 6 athlete. Mitch returned to Texas Cheer and competed again with Lvl 5 Redi. Mitch also cheered at the University of Houston co-ed squad for two years. GO COOGS!!!  He is a great coach and loves teaching kids of all ages how to tumble/stunt.

Fun Fact: Mitch has two kids! A son named Braxton and daughter named Alora.

Chief Operations Officer, Senior Coach, Choreographer 

Lakeyn Johnson has been cheering for 15 years. Doing both competitive cheer and school cheer, Lakeyn first started her cheering career at Westside Cheer Academy at 8 years old where she won two jump competitions. She then went on to cheer at Cheer Nation (now Prodigy) on a level 5 team and competed at NCA for three years. Lakeyn also cheered at Morton Ranch High School on the varsity cheer team where she served as cheer captain for two years, winning the UCA summer camp jump competition for three years in a row, as well as being recognized as an All-American cheerleader for UCA for three consecutive years. Lakeyn enjoyed cheering and perfecting many different elite skills throughout her cheer career. After High School Lakeyn first attended Louisiana State University and then transferred to the University of Houston where she received a degree in Nutrition. She loves kids and is now dedicated to teaching kids her same passion for cheerleading. She enjoys watching kids learn, grow and wants them to enjoy the sport just as much as she does. Lakeyn loves doing choreography and working with school teams.

Senior Tumbling/Cheer Coach, Preschool Specialist

Kylie is a passionate and driven coach who has been in the cheer world since 2006. She started cheering competitively at the Academy of Gymnastics and Dance in her hometown until she made the cheer team at Hudson Middle School. She continued to make her school cheer team every year from 7th grade to her senior year. She rejoined the competitive world in 2014 with the Academy of Gymnastics and Dance, before moving to Cheer Extreme winning numerous NCA titles & bids with both gyms. After high school, she made the 2017-2018 collegiate cheer team for the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor, before moving to Houston to finish college.

Fun fact: Kylie made it as a finalist in 2018 for the Houston Texans and loves to golf as much as she loves to cheer.

Senior Tumbling/Cheer Coach, Clinic Leadership, Branding Expert

Cassie Briggs has been cheering for 18 years. Doing both school cheer and competitive cheer. Cassie first started cheer at Prodigy all stars at 4 years old where she competed on levels 1-6 where she won many NCA titles. Her most accomplished title is winning NCA grand champion in 2019 on prodigy all stars Blacklight a level 6 team. Cassie also cheered at Memorial high school on JV for one year and Varsity for three years as the spirit captain, she was recognized as an All-American cheerleader for NCA for four consecutive years. After high school Cassie attended Texas Tech University where she received her bachelor of fine arts degree in graphic design. While in college Cassie did competitive cheer at Ultimate Cheer Lubbock on a level 7 team where she won 2 NCA titles and received bronze at the Cheerleading worlds. Cassie loves working and teaching kids and especially when it involves cheerleading, she is glad to be back coaching at HEC.   

Fun Fact: Cassie won the cheerleading worlds in 2018 with Prodigy all stars Blacklight!  

Senior Tumbling/Cheer Coach

Elleana has been coaching cheer for 5 years and also has 10+ years of cheerleading experience. Her expertise expands from competitive to high school and collegiate cheer. She graduated with her bachelors and masters degree from Mississippi College in English, and she is currently teaching at a local private school in the Houston area.
Fun fact: Elleana has a little sister with Down’s syndrome who inspires her everyday.

Junior Tumbling/Cheer Coach
Karlyn’s journey in cheer and tumbling began at age 4 when she joined Raider Xtreme in Lubbock, Texas. Growing up with a passion for cheer, she competed at levels 1, 2, and 3, showcasing her skills in numerous competitions across the U.S. During her time with Raider Xtreme, Karlyn achieved several ASC titles as a flyer, demonstrating both her talent and dedication. By age 15, she started sharing her expertise by teaching younger kids how to cheer, tumble, and fly. 

Fun Fact: Karlyn was an all-around athlete, playing basketball and softball throughout her school years.

High School Star Tumbling/Cheer Coach

Jenna is a freshman at Memorial High School and cheers on the JV team there. She has been in and out of cheer since she was younger. She was one of the first people to even come to HEC and has attended l ever since. She loves to dance and spirit and loves working with little kids. 

Fun Fact: Jenna loves to wakeboard and if not at the gym she is spending time with friends! 

High School Tumbling/Cheer Coach

Brooklynn is from all over. Born in Illinois, raised in California where she started gymnastics at age 10. After moving to New Mexico in 2020 she moved on to a level 4 all star cheer team and continued on to a level 6 team at La Cueva High School. A new Houston resident as of 2025, she is actively pursuing a new cheer team. She loves stunting and working with all ages.

High School Star Tumbling/Cheer Coach

Naz has been involved in tumbling her entire life and absolutely loves it. She recently made the Stratford High School JV cheer team. She started gymnastics when she was 2 and did tumbling until 5th grade when she switched to cheer. She has done competitive cheer for 4 years and goes to Stars Vipers and is on the senior level 5 team, Cobra Kai. She’s been going to HEC since 2018 and has been doing classes with Dana since the beginning of her 7th grade year.

Fun Fact: She won NCA in 2022 and loves teaching her friends tumbling skills! 

High School Star Tumbling/Cheer Coach
Carson is a sophomore at Houston Christian High School where she is an All-American cheerleader. She has been attending HEC for 4 years and has loved every minute of it. Her favorite thing to do in cheer is stunting in routines. Carson loves working with kids and being able to pass on her love for the sport. 

Fun Fact: Carson has four dogs and one is a Great Dane.

High School Star Tumbling/Cheer Coach

Maddie is a freshman at Stratford High School. She is looking forward to participating in track & field, joining many clubs, and trying out for cheer sophomore year. She started gymnastics at 5 years old and did it competitively for 3 years. She was able to win nationals, competing as a level 5, and ended training as a level 8. Maddie enjoys her lessons at HEC with Dana and Geris during the week and loves tumbling. 

Fun Fact: Maddie has 20 cousins and most of her family lives in New Orleans.

Summer Camp Director/Cheer Coach

Coach Hartzog grew up doing competitive gymnastics and school cheerleading in Houston, TX. She graduated high school and continued cheering, tumbling, and stunting after graduation. Coach Hartzog started coaching gymnastics as a sophomore in high school and continued coaching both gymnastics and cheer when she went to college at the University of Arkansas. Her passion for cheerleading has been a big part of her life for a long time. She loves to help others grow and become more confident as they get more comfortable performing in front of crowds. Coach Hartzog still creates dances and cheers for performances at various schools.

Fun Fact: Coach Abi has been to 25 of the 50 states!