This winter, the varsity cheer squad added four new cheerlifters: freshmen Rusty Turner, Liam Poe, Joe McDonald and Colton Henderson. The four quickly learned that being a cheerlifter would be harder than they thought.
“It was a different experience. It brought me a skill I had desperately been wanting yet I’m still not good at it,” said Henderson.
Junior Coy Busick is in his second season as a cheerlifter, serving as a role model and teacher for the new lifters.
“This season, I finally got a toss-to-hands without a front spot, and I was able to help the younger cheerlifters get more comfortable doing stunts,” said Busick.
Busick moved around a lot this season, participating in many different roles. The other lifters also experimented and played many different roles in stunts. If you saw the team at a game, you would notice
the lifters got to be bases, back spots, and even do stunts where they were the only base.
“My favorite stunt was a basket or one-man. I usually back-spotted, but then I started to side base. It was really fun,” said Poe.
The cheer squad was very excited to have the new lifters and very welcoming when they were allowed to join different stunt groups. The flyers had to build trust with their lifters to complete complicated stunts.
“It was nerve-wracking to have new cheerlifters because it’s my senior year, and being captain I had the responsibility to make sure that they all have a part to do on the team,” said Senior Cheer Captain Harleigh Poe
The freshmen quickly picked up new skills and were willing to learn new things. Learning new stunts can be frustrating, especially for the lifters because they have not had any experience doing cheer stunts, but this was used as a lesson for some of the lifters. McDonald was one of the lifters who liked looking at the more positive side of the experience.
“It is okay if you don’t get something on the first try. There will be plenty more opportunities to do that.” said McDonald
The squad will return next year and hopes to learn more advanced stunts and show even more progress. If you are in grades 8-11 and are interested in being a cheerleader or lifter, feel free to try, even if you have no experience. Busick and his fellow lifters prove that trying new things can be exciting and beneficial.
