More Stunts In Storegroup

WAITSBURG - Though it's certainly not the only thing these youth have going for them, the WP cheerlead­ing

squad knows for sure it's going into the fall sports season with something im­portant - experience. Whether it's the squad's six seniors, out of nine mem­bers,

or the group's newest addition - junior Steven Homblette, a veteran gym­nast with semi-pro cheer­leading experience - WP cheer advisor Vickie Ha­mann knows they're going to have a great year. "This year we have just two girls who have never cheered before, and they're learning fast," said Hamann, who has advised the local squad for four years now. "It should be a real good year."

Hamann had little train­ing for her position as cheer coach, aside from being on the cheerleading squad in high school, she said. But the Waitsburg woman has plenty of experience as a coach, having coached volleyball and track in the past.

"I really enjoy being the cheer coach, though," she said. And since Waitsburg and Prescott combined sports programs, the job has be­come

more challenging, Hamann said.

In years one and two af­ter the schools combined, the squad had at least two Prescott cheerleaders. This year nobody from Prescott tried out, Hamann said. She's not sure why, but it means the

isn't as diverse as last year - and with so many ex­perienced cheerleaders, she's planning to have the squad rotate between junior varsity and varsity football games, so all members have a chance to cheer varsity.

"We have a commit­ment to cover the JV games, though, so we'll continue to do that to some degree," she said. Hamann agreed to cheer at JV games in order to open up the squad to more cheerleaders, going from a five-person squad to one with eight or nine members. She's excited about having so many experienced cheer­leaders on board, though. It means that instead of spend­ing a lot of time learning routine cheers, the squad can focus more on stunts and dance routines.

"And of course the crowds really like the stunts," she said. And with Homblette on the squad, the girls can take those complex acrobatics to a higher level. Homblette, a 20-year-old who moved to Waitsburg from Walla Walla last year in order to complete his high school diploma, has been a gymnast for six years and has worked with cheerleading squads in Walla Walla.

This is Homblette's first year on the WP squad. "The girls were a little weirded out at first," he said. "I was the first guy who'd ever asked."

But when he tried out and the ASB officers got a look at his acrobatic jumps, stunts and other powerful gymnas­tic moves, "They thought it was pretty cool," he said. "Eventually the girls got used to it, and now I think they think it's a pretty good thing I'm on the squad." Homblette hopes his bold move to join the squad will encourage other young men to try out.

"Cheerleading and gym­nastics take way more strength than any other sport out there," he said. Joining the squad hasn't hurt his reputation any, Hom­blette said. He was already the odd-man out because of his status as the new kid, his age and his emo-punk style of dress, he said. In fact, he's now more "in" than he was before.

WP Squad: Amanda Beck­man, Ashley Wilson, Breonna White, Kazmira Grende, Kris­tin Potter, Rachel Reedy, Ste­ven Homblette, Taylor Doep­ker, and Taylor Moon.