By JOHN ANDERSON
For years, fall cheerleading was behind the eight ball. Cheerleading was not considered a sport, yet there was a competition at the end of the season that did not receive a lot of publicity.
That all ended in 2014 for the winter cheerleaders and now the fall teams are called Game Day Cheer.
At Wellsville, the success of the girls’ sports is staggering in the fall. Soccer, volleyball and tennis will all, or have been, hosting sectional games this fall and the swim team has been a multiple-time LCAA champion and Section V champs. The girls’ tennis team won three straight sectional titles.
Then, you add in over 20 more athletes competing on the Game Day Cheer squad.
The cheer programs have had support of Liz Huyler over the years, and Shyanne Ashbrook took over and has helped coach incredible athletes the past seven years.
On Sunday, the Wellsville Game Day Cheer went to the prestigious Phyllis Greene Invitational in Dansville and came away with a first place in their division of five teams and then of all divisions combined, won the Grand Champion award. Greene, the late Dansville cheer coach had a quote, “Do what you love and love what you do.” That was evident on Sunday in their first-ever competition.
How long of a weekend was it for the cheerleaders? On Friday night, they cheered for four quarters during an exciting Homecoming football game (LeRoy/Cal-Mum defeated the Lions, 30-13) and performed their routine at halftime.
Saturday was another long day and night with the homecoming dance. Then it was up before the sun to go to Dansville for a long day of competition. But the long weekend and bus ride home was worth it as the bus was weighed down by a lot of championship hardware.
“We went into the competition just hoping to place top three and get scores for our routine since this was our first time competing this season and we had such a busy weekend,” said Ashbrook. “This team is very special and they have been the most hardworking team I’ve coached. Game Day is different than competition cheer and it very hard to tell for three minutes straight.”
Middle row: Zeddalynn Kalkbrenner, Natalie Dickerson, Suzi Brownell, Jaelyn Cornelius, Giovanna Harvey and Elly Johnson.
Back Row: Amaya Outman, Haley Elliott, Adriana Schuld, Alexis Perkins, Neveah Rafferty-Muchuga, Trinity Clark, Jayden Brownell, Cori McConnell and Allison Cicirello.
The effort showed on Sunday.
“These girls practice five days a week, two hours a night,” said Ashbrook. “They decorate for games, go to other sporting events and even practice at home. They have been wanting to win.”
And the unexpected win happened.
“The win was so exciting and very unexpected. This was our first grand champ trophy in the fall in years,” Ashbrook said. “This was my first grand champ trophy ever as a coach at Wellsville and this is my seventh season.”
She once again talks about the dedication and work the team puts in which put them over the top.
“We had a streak of getting third place for so long, and over the years, for the veterans on the team, it was such a bittersweet moment to see them end the “third place streak” with a win,” she said. “Winning was even more exciting because I got to celebrate it with my sister who is also my assistant coach and Liz Huyler who always is my phone call away. I wouldn’t be the coach I am without those two people.”
