Cheering for
the Huskies

Wednesday,
December 26, 2007

BY ERIC
POKOYOWAY

[email-masked]

388-8400

PORTAGE -- Amy Overheul, a sophomore
flyer on Portage Northern's competitive cheer team,
has a tall order to live up to in her first year on the varsity cheer squad.

Overheul joins a cheer team that made its
first-ever state-finals appearance, won the Southwestern Michigan Athletic
Conference Central Division and won its first regional. The Huskies finished
seventh at states and have very high expectations this year.

``I guess there is a lot of
pressure on me and some of the other sophomores because knowing that they
went to states, you really want to help them get back,'' Overheul
said.

Overheul is replacing Kelly Wilkinson, a
four-year starter from last year who is cheering at Western Michigan
University.

Portage Northern coach Heather
Prentice said that a flyer can be a very difficult position to fill because
the girls haven't built the trust needed to complete a stunt consistently.

``You try standing on one leg, on
someone else's hand six feet up in the air,'' Prentice said.

In a sport where the girls are
judged on how high they can toss each other and how well they can hold
themselves in the air, physics and the law of gravity can sometimes get the
better of them.

``Just the fear of falling can be
really scary, but I do it because I am a flyer,'' Overheul
said. ``You just have to know that you trust your teammates and they aren't
going to drop you.''

Overheul is tossed, spun and flung six
feet in the air with only her inner core to keep her balanced and stable. She
is sometimes left to the mercy of her spotters.

``You have to give up total
control of yourself -- you have to put your trust in the three girls that are
underneath you,'' Prentice said. ``I think it depends on the kid, but I am
very confident in my little sophomore flyer (Overheul).''

Speaking of Overheul
and the nine other underclassmen, ``They are fitting in really well,'' said
Raquel Kruse, a senior and one of the three girls who are responsible for
keeping Overheul from meeting the mat.

``We have a lot of girls that need
to really step up this year. They are all really quiet but are all really
excited to learn.''

Said Kruse: ``It was the most
exciting day of my life winning regionals. It was
one of the biggest rushes I have ever had.''

With the impressive resume that
the Huskies built for themselves last year and the expectations they have for
this year, Prentice said there is a lot of pressure on her underclassman.

``They are very talented girls,
and their skill is good enough to get them through (the routine),'' she said.
``They are doing exactly what I would expect an underclassman to do.''