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Piedmont University Athletics

Home Of The Piedmont University Lions
Cristen Rabern

Cristen Rabern

  • Title
    Head Cheerleading Coach
  • Email
    crabern@piedmont.edu
  • Phone
    1345
  • Year
    5th Season
  • Alma Mater
    Univ. of North Georgia (BA)
Cristen Rabern enters her fifth season as Head Cheerleading Coach in the fall of 2025 after joining Piedmont in the spring of 2021. In just four seasons, Rabern has built a thriving cheerleading program after transitioning the varsity club program to a competitive cheerleading squad that began competition in 2022-23.

Piedmont earned its highest finish at the NCA College National Championship earning second place in the DIII Intermediate All-Girls division. The Lions placed second of 16 teams in the division with a 95.53 score in finals, the highest score in the history of the program and only 0.82 off the first-place team. 

That 95.53 score in finals was the 27th highest in the entire competition out of all 325 teams (that includes DI, DII, DIII, Junior College, NAIA, advanced and intermediate). 

The 2024-25 season also saw Piedmont host its first collegiate cheer competition, the Blue Ridge Battle, in the Mize Athletic Center. The event was a huge success with over 10 teams traveling to Demorest. 

In just the first season of competition, the Piedmont University cheerleading squad earned third place nationally at the NCA Collegiate National Championship in Daytona Beach, Florida. The Lions competed in the Division III All-girl Intermediate category. In the finals, Piedmont was able to raise its raw score to 84.53 with zero deductions with the final overall event score for Piedmont being a 93.3935, a mere 0.4 points away from second place.

Rabern joined Piedmont after serving as a teacher at Habersham Central High School from 2014-2021 and the JV Competitive Cheer Coach since 2017. Her achievements included several first and second place trophies in competitions and helping athletes improve in stunting, tumbling and jumps. 

Some of her main responsibilities including cultivating relationships with her athletes, monitoring academic success and preparing athletes to cheer at the varsity level and beyond. She also assisted with the varsity team in 2018-2020 and went to state in 2018 and 2019. 

Rabern has a long history with cheer, including cheering varsity competition and sideline throughout high school. She was chosen as captain her junior and senior years and her competition team went to the state competition her senior year. 

She and her husband lived in Nicaragua doing mission work at an orphanage and several rural churches in 2014. 

Rabern is a graduate of the University of North Georgia with a bachelor of arts in History Education and graduated Summa Cum Laude. 

Last updated 6/25