Our Coaches

Margarita Jimenez

Dance Head Coach

Margarita has been with MONCAD for 11 years and has brought a wealth of knowledge in choreography, passion, spirit and dedication to us.  Margarita coaches our premier pom team and jazz team. 

Margarita was trained in ballet for over 15 years. Her career highlights include working with the Walt Disney Company and competing with the Golden Girls Dance Team, representing the academy at the Dance Worlds, four times. Margarita was also a member of Team Colombia Freestyle Pom in 2012, where the team placed 8th in the world. 

In 2013, Margarita moved to Australia to study at Monash University. She joined MONCAD as Dance Assistant Coach, then undertaking the role as coach for our, then,  All Star Pom team 'Monash Mystics' as Head Coach in 2014. In 2015, Margarita became head coach of our Premier Pom team and then Premier Jazz in 2016. As of 2016, Margarita has been the head coach of the Dance program at MONCAD. Since then, in recognition of her outstanding and ongoing contributions and constant spirit she brings to the club, Margarita was named an honorary MONCAD Life Member in 2023.

In 2017, Margarita opened up Pacific Elite Dance, a studio dedicated to Dance training for athletes of all ages. She has brought the Mystics, Open Pom team, to the Dance Worlds in 2017 and 2019. In 2019, the Mystics were selected as Team Australia for the ICU World Championships and brought home the silver globe at the Dance Worlds. 

Stephanie Davey

Cheerleading Head Coach

Steph came to Monash in 2018, bringing our advanced team to the FISU World University Cheerleading and Dance Championships in Poland, hitting an amazing zero on both days! Since being head coach, our advanced team has another won a bid to the 2020 FISU WUCC in South Korea. 

In addition to her achievements with our teams, Steph also served as the head chant coach for Team Australia in 2023 and 2024, further showcasing her commitment, passion and exceptional coaching abilities in cheerleading. 

Behind her coaching life, Steph is an accountant and a cheerleader. She has been an athlete since 2001, was the USA National Stunt champion 2008, Canadian National Stunt champion 2009, Team Australia World medalist in 2011 and 2012. She last competed in Team Australia 2018 with MCA Phoenix. 


Michelle Talledo

Hip-Hop Coach

Michelle joined MONCAD in 2019 as an athlete, quickly becoming an integral part of our Premier Hip Hop team, Hercules, and excelling in multiple Hip Hop duos. Her duos consistently achieved gold at AASCF Nationals and UniSport Nationals. In 2019, her team secured a bid for the 2020 FISU World University Cheerleading and Dance Championships in South Korea. 

In 2023, Michelle began coaching both Hip Hop teams at MONCAD, Hercules and Helios and from day one both teams have consistently placed 1st and 2nd in the University Premier Hip Hop division. 

Beyond her success at MONCAD, Michelle is also an accomplished coach for Pacific Elite's Hip Hop team, Mathis Dance and Hailebury College. Michelle's coaching style goes beyond just winning and is about nurturing a love for dance and building a strong foundation and understanding of where the art stems from.

Katie Sawford

Pom Coach

Katie first joined MONCAD as an athlete in 2014, dancing in pom, jazz and hip hop teams and duos for five years. In this time, she was also a member of the club's Committee, first as the Treasurer and then as the President. She has also competed as a member of the Pacific Elite Mystics.

Throughout her time as an athlete, Katie attended the USASF Dance Worlds in 2015, 2017 & 2019, receiving a silver medal in the Open Coed Pom division in 2019. She was a member of the Team Australia Freestyle Pom team at the 2019 ICU Worlds, placing Australia 6th. 

In addition to this, Katie has represented Monash at multiple international university competitions, first at University Worlds in 2016, and then at the inaugural FISU World University Cheerleading Championships in Poland in 2018, where she represented the university and the country in the Freestyle Pom Doubles, and also received three silver medals in the Team Freestyle Pom, Team Jazz & Team Hip Hop divisions. 

As recognition for her exceptional work for the club, Katie was named a MONCAD Life Member in 2018, and has also received a Monash Blues Award for outstanding performance. 

Katie began coaching for MONCAD in 2020, and is excited to continue in 2021!

Hayley Shreeve

Lyrical Coach

Hayley first joined MONCAD in 2016 as an athlete, where she danced in Pom and Jazz teams and duos for 7 years. During this time she has held multiple key position within the club's Committee, serving as Treasurer, Vice-President and ultimately as our 2021 President. 

As an athlete, Hayley proudly represented Monash University and Australia at the FISU World University Cheerleading and Dance Championships in Poland in 2018. She showcased her skills in the Hip Hop and Pom duos division and also earned three silver medals in the Pom, Jazz and Hip Hop team divisions.

Hayley achieved notable milestones, including competing at the USASF Dance worlds in 2017 and 2019. In 2019, she secured a silver medal in the Open Coed Pom division. Hayley also represented Team Australia in the Freestyle Pom team at the 2019 ICU Worlds, contributing to Australia's 6th place win.

Hayley's dedication and continuous contributions to the club led her to being named a MONCAD Life Member in 2021. She also received a Monash Blues Award for her exceptional performance.

In 2023, Hayley began her coaching journey with MONCAD after coaching with Pacific Elite for multiple years. 

Anabelle Soden

Cheerleading & Dance technique Coach

Anabelle started with MONCAD in 2013 as an athlete of our pom and cheer teams. In 2015, she began coaching our Open University Pom team, bringing the team to national and runner up titles. In 2019, Anabelle brought our lyrical team to life as she continued to coach our division 2 pom team. She is a dedicated coach, bringing her classically trained expertise and knowledge from both her MONCAD Pom days and profession. Anabelle has continued to coach pom and cheerleading at MONCAD, where her 1/2 all girl cheer team continued to place 1st in their division in 2023. 

Outside of coaching, Anabelle works as a physiotherapist where she has been able to apply her knowledge to trainings.

Anabelle has continued to cheer with Southern Cross Cheer and as an athlete, she has travelled to multiple Cheerleading Worlds. Most recently with Interstellar in 2019 and back in 2017 with Lady Reign. 


Amelia Schweiger

Cheerleading Coach

Amelia joined MONCAD in 2018, however was in the world of cheer way before that. During her time as an athlete, Amelia was selected to join our advanced team, representing both Monash University and Australia at the FISU University World Cheerleading and Dance Championships in Poland. In 2023, Amelia championed in the UWCC division with our advanced team in the 2023 UCA held in Florida, USA. Alongside these global achievements, Amelia's teams have won multiple gold medals and Grand Champions.


Amelia has found great success as a coach, where she has continued to lead our Level 1/2 Coed teams to place and has won multiple Grand Champions. 


Outside of MONCAD, Amelia's cheer highlights include competing at the Cheer worlds with Pure Allstars in 2019 and now has a coach for Elite Allstars has seen multiple Grand Champions, Pinnacle Bids and gold medals. 


With a deep passion for the sport and an incredibly strong coaching background with a proven track record of success, Amelia has been consistent in pushing her teams to achieve great success.

Dom Sullivan

Cheerleading Coach

As a member of the club since 2018, Dom has proven his worth on the cheer mat through his efforts in Atlas' run to Poland in 2018 and following it up to win the National Grand Championship with Apollo in 2019. As an athlete, Dom has experienced attending the 2023 UCA in the UWCC division held in Florida, USA. Throughout his time as an athlete, Dom served on committee as Secretary and has since moved into a coaching position. 


Dom has consistently been an enthusiastic and supportive coach to our athletes and club members throughout his years. As a passionate assistant coach to our 3/4 all girl team in 2023, they continued to place first, highlighting their gold win at UniSport Nationals. 


Outside of MONCAD, Dom has coaching experience at Melbourne Cheer Academy, Upstage Cheer & Dance, and Emmaus College's high school cheer team. As an athlete himself, Dom has continued to cheer at Melbourne Cheer Academy on Angels where he recently competed at the 2023 Cheerleading Worlds. 


Nicky Breuniger

Dance PT Coach

Nicky has been with MONCAD since 2017, when she first introduced the Dance PT Program. Our dance PT sessions are high energy, fast paced and encouraging to athletes of all fitness abilities. Nicky holds two PT sessions a week for our dancers in order to elevate their fitness and perform their routines safely. 

 Nicky has over 25 years experience teaching dance and in personal training. With her experience in dance, Nicky specialises in coaching dancers in fitness, tailoring programmes supporting cardio fitness, strength and core as well as alternative exercises for injured athletes.