by Lauren Krogman

On Wednesday, Nov. 13, the winter cheerleading squads began practice for the upcoming season.  The basketball squad consists of eight members, and the wrestling squad has seven.  The teams are coached by Taylor Hastings and Julie Hansen.

Practice is held once a week for two hours and is held outside the weight room.  During the practice, the squads work on cheers, stunts and jumps.  The two teams split up during practice to work on individual things.  The basketball squad focuses more on stunts and jumps, while the wrestling squad works on cheers.

The first girls basketball game will be held on November 25 at home against Abraham Lincoln and the first boys basketball game will be held on December 6 at Saint Albert.  The basketball squad is still deciding if they are going to travel to the away games, or just cheer both boys and girls at home.  The squad members include Monica Witzman, Lauren Krogman, Lexi Allen, Karly Monson, Erin Shannon, Beth Schmitt, Bailey Steffens and Kerra Christensen.

The first wrestling meet will be held on December 5 at home.  The wrestling cheer squad will be gone almost every weekend this winter for tournaments.  Coach Hastings asked Julie Hansen to assist her this year, mainly because of wrestling season.  Hastings says, “I felt an assistant coach was needed particularly for the winter season.  There are several nights throughout the year where both the wrestling and basketball squads are cheering.”  she continues, “With the addition of an assistant coach, we can cover both events and do not have to rely on administrators.”  The wrestling cheerleading members include Emily McDermott, Maddie Helvie, Sarah McCance, Charisma Burg, Shianne Adams, Mariah Taylor and Samantha Christo.

As the winter sports season begins, the cheerleading squads are getting prepared and excited to cheer on the Trojans the rest of the year.  It is their job to cheer on the teams, but they will need help from the crowd and student section to help the Trojans to a win.