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Saturday, September 1, 2007
Cheer Like a Rock Star
Central Kansas, KS
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Wellington girls put in the time to cheer in style
The mix tape – an eclectic grouping of pop, hip-hop and rock – is a one-minute and 15-second compilation, splicing together such titles as “Cupid’s Chokehold,” “Pop, Lock and Drop It,” “Break Stuff” and, a blast from the past, “Too Legit.”
“They’re like my favorite band,” said Melanie Martin, a senior on the Wellington squad, of Limp Bizkit, responsible for the rock cacophony “Break Stuff.”
Kayla Richmond, one of Martin’s teammates, ripped the mix on her computer, then she, Martin and the other four Wellington cheer squad seniors (Loryn Zoglmann, Alicia White, Arielle Horsch, Brayden Popplewell) choreographed a dance to go with it. A week later, after working out the kinks by putting in extra time on top of their usual daily 7-9 a.m. practices, they had a “home routine.” Their efforts played well away from home, too. The Wellington squad won the title at the UCA cheer camp at Emporia State this past summer.
The creation of the “home routine,” distinguished from the “extreme routine” and “cheer routine,” (the two other components of the camp competition) was a bear. “It was very challenging at times,” said Richmond. Collaboration between six different girls can be tough, but Wellington cheerleaders have a tradition of getting the job done.
Coach Barb White’s girls have won the state title at their summer camp three of her four years there. Thanks in large part to mastery of cheerleading fundamentals, the Wellington spirit squad was prepared for whatever camp counselors threw their way. For the “extreme routine,” the staffers gave the Wellington girls the music and the first part of a dance but left the final five eight-counts to their creative discretion. They nailed it.
To round out the competition, the girls chose from a selection of cheers demonstrated at the camp and built it into their own, adding stunts, signs and cheers. Richmond provided the competition’s coup de grâce, a back handspring into an extension. She and the rest of the Dukes (the Crusaders’ other nickname) knew exactly how to execute what the judges wanted to see – level changes, kick-lines, ripples, show ‘n go’s, liberties and awesomes – anything to mix it up.
The Wellington seniors take a strong leadership role on the squad beyond perfect attendance at daily two-hour morning practices all summer. High standards must be met to maintain membership on the squad. Each cheerleader must perfect 90 percent of the 80 routines; she is never guaranteed a spot on the team without an annual try-out; and there are multiple performance tests and critiques from upperclassmen. Only 14 girls and one yell-leader, Thomas Hollman (in the past there have been up to five yell-leaders working simultaneously), made it from the 25 who tried out for the varsity squad. (A separate try-out is held for the freshman squad.)
And for what?
“It’s very heart-pumping being out on the (football) field,” explained Richmond. “It’s like sacred ground.”
“It’s an adrenaline rush,” said Martin.
“It’s just so exciting to see the huge crowds,” added Zoglmann.
On August 23rd, Wellington High’s football stadium will be full, though the Crusaders will still be a week away from the season-opener. The annual intra-squad Hamburger Scrimmage put on by the area Lions Club kicks things off early. Each Wellington cheerleader on the squad will be introduced to the community, before performing between the freshman and varsity games. A week later, the girls will pep the town up with a rally before the home game against Clearwater. Eventually, homecoming festivities become a focus. Then, the playoffs. Then, basketball and wrestling. Then… well, it just never stops – because Wellington takes its high school sports seriously, and so do their cheerleaders!
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