The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg-Prescott cheer squad will soar to new heights this football season because of a larger squad and lots of returning veterans.

"We have a lot of athletic girls and a lot of experience," Coach Vickie Hamann said. "The girls are very enthusiastic."

The football cheer squad totals 13 girls this year, nine on varsity and four on junior varsity.

Hamann is taking on her fifth year as coach and says she is thrilled by the larger turnout.

For the football teams, this means more cheerleaders supporting the varsity team at away games, and the junior varsity football team will get cheerleaders on the sidelines at away games.

The squad had an instructor conduct a private camp in town on Aug. 15 and 16, and practice began Aug. 18. Hamann said the private instructor gave the squad a lot of new material and stunting ideas and the squad will be working on perfecting all of it.

The first home game is coming up Friday, Sept. 2, when the Cardinals face Davenport, and the squad is working hard learning cheers, dances and stunts.

Hamann said the squad most enjoys dancing and stunting, but it will concentrate on spirit-raising at school as well.

"We want to get the crowd and students really involved," she said.

Not only does being a cheerleader entail two hours of practice most school days, but also planning and executing pep rallies, homecoming week activities, dreaming up and performing halftime routines, decorating lockers of student athletes and making welcome-back signs for both schools. The school does not offer a leadership class for students, so Hamann said she has to work leadership training into practices as well.

"They do a great job and they're very dedicated," Hamann said.

Hamann wanted to give a special thanks to Lori Bartlow for signing up to drive the second van of cheerleaders to away games this season.

Varsity: Taylor Doepker, Kristin Potter, Hailey Goenen, Katy Hofer, Shayla Rowlette, Samantha Moss, Sydney Eng, Enedina Fuentes, Jessie Hopkins Junior Varsity: Maddy Witt, Seleina Benito, Maranda Callahan, Bailey Edwards