Watching from the bleachers to performing on the mat By J1 Reporter Jackie Blossom Sitting on the bleachers at the fall pep rally her freshman year, Annie was in awe of the Marian cheerleaders performing. They looked like they were having the time of their lives and right then and there she decided she wanted to be on that mat performing in front of her classmates. Walking into Marian’s cheer tryouts her sophomore year, she was nervous. This is her first year trying out for any cheer team and she doesn’t know what to expect from these tryouts. She walks into Marian’s gym and looks at the judges and becomes even more scared when she sees they are staring right back at her. But she is ready, she has practiced nonstop and is ready to nail this audition, and she does. Trying out for Marian’s cheer team her sophomore year was Annie Ellerbeck’s first time ever trying out for a cheer team. Going to tryouts was a very impulsive decision and doing so with no experience was terrifying for her but she says, “It was a spontaneous decision to try out and I am so blessed that I did because it has given me so many of my favorite memories.” Marian cheer has given Ellerbeck some of her best friends and has made memories that will last her a lifetime. Being a senior now, Ellerbeck has spent every
year then moved on to being varsity captain. Girls like Wagner, who are starting their first year as captain, look up to Ellerbeck as an example of a great captain and just like a captain should be she is an amazing role model for the whole team. Life isn’t easy as captain, paying attention to all of the little details is one of the hardest things. Ellerbeck says, “Making sure girls are in the right uniform, on time, and ready to cheer are just a few of the many responsibilities that come with the captain title.” Making sure your team looks good and is ready to perform requires her to critique her teammates and friends which is not an easy
day since making the team working hard to make her way to being Varsity cheer captain. She sacrificed her late starts in the Marian gym perfecting extension with her stunt group and working on her jumps. She has put time and effort into this team and has earned her place at the top as captain. Junior JV captain, Lydia Wagner, says, “Annie is always so positive and motivated to be a good captain for her team, which pushes me to do the same and be a good captain for my team.” Ellerbeck was in a similar position as Wagner is right now. She made the team her sophomore year and was named JV captain her junior
“It was a spontaneous decision to try out, and I am so blessed that I did because it has given me so many of my favorite memories” -Annie Ellerbeck
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thing to do but necessary when you are the leader of the team. Being captain is a demanding job and having to balance being a student athlete is hard sometimes. Ellerbeck says it gets hard to keep up with school when her cheer schedule is so time consuming. So sometimes there is a difficult decision she has to make between cheer and school. While she wants her decision to always be cheer, she sometimes has to prioritize school so that she can continue being able to participate in cheer and be able to continue being captain for the team. Ellerbeck has spent her three years on the team learning all there is about being a cheerleader. She has spent long practices learning and perfecting her routines and cheers. Now that she is a senior, she is leading the team in learning new skills and helping them perfect each pep rally routine. One of Ellerbeck’s main goals for the team this year is to achieve a successful pep rally. She says, “We put so much effort into them and performing in front of the school is so fun!” Ellerbeck can’t wait for the rest of the cheer season and will be devastated to say goodbye to her team and some of her best friends when she goes off to college.
