Tarleton Athletics announced on Sept. 10, 2024, that they have hired Ancheska Parchman to lead the Texan Stars, Tarleton State’s dance team.
Parchman joins Tarleton State from Virginia Tech, where she was Head Dance Coach of the HighTechs Dance Team, plus was a Communication Skills and Public Speaking Professor for the past two years. She has also served as Head Dance Coach for the University of Houston-Downtown’s Gatorettes from 2018-22, while simultaneously serving as a Head Dance Director for Fort Bend ISD starting in 2019.
Parchman takes over the Texan Stars in 2024. Her duties include choreographing routines for games, events, and competitions, plus cultivating positive relationships among student-athletes, fundraising for the program, and preparing the team for Nationals. She will recruit and increase program interest and visibility, promoting school spirit throughout the campus and community.
The Magnolia, Arkansas, and Tyler, Texas, native has won several choreography awards as a coach in the jazz, hip hop, lyrical and pom divisions. Parchman is a four-time grand champion as a coach and has been part of three grand champion teams which have won first place in Team Jazz, Hip Hop, and Contemporary, plus a runner-up finish in Crowd Pleasers Nationals in 2021.
Parchman danced for two years as a member of the Lon Morris College Pom Squad, serving as a captain her sophomore year, and choreographing for both the cheer and dance teams. After junior college, Parchman was a member of the Stephen F. Austin Jack Attack Dance Team from 2010-12. She was part of program history by competing in hip hop for the first time at the National Dance Alliance (NDA) Collegiate Nationals and she finished her collegiate career with their first-ever first-place national championship title for Division I Hip Hop.
Following college, Parchman spent time traveling and choreographing for dance and
cheerleading teams at all levels across Texas, including the NBA D-League, and has worked with teams and taught masterclasses in Florida, Virginia and Ohio. She has 18 years of choreography experience and has served as a dance teacher and director in many public schools and studios across Texas.
Parchman is excited to begin her seventh year as a collegiate dance coach with the Texan Stars, and grateful to be part of their reclassification into Division 1 at NDA College Nationals. She comes with a competitive spirit and goals to build a legacy that Tarleton State University and Texan Stars alumni can be proud of.
