Published
February 10, 2006

(Photo by ROD SANFORD/Lansing State Journal)

Performing at breast cancer benefit: Lansing Catholic
Central High
School varsity cheer team member Andrea Corey
(center) works on a back-walkover move with the help of teammates Megan DeShetler (left) and Katie Baker at practice Monday.
Cheerleading, pompom and dance teams from across the state will cheer from
11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday to support breast cancer research at Intramural
West on MSU's campus. Admission to the Pink
Ribbon Cheer Classic is $5 per person.

Cheer Classic

• The Pink Ribbon Cheer Classic is from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday
at Intramural West on MSU's campus.

• Admission is $5 per person.

• Performance awards include most impressive jumps; other awards
include most school supporters attending and the "pink passion"
award for most creatively displaying support of breast cancer awareness.

On the Web

• Cheer Classic: msu.edu/~schnebl1/CheerClassic.html

• Susan G. Komen Foundation: www.komen.org

Cheering for a cure

Area cheerleaders, dancers
compete in Pink Ribbon cancer event

By
Tara Thoel

Special to the State Journal

EAST LANSING - Cheerleading, pompom
and dance teams from across the state will cheer for a cure Saturday.

More
than 1,000 people are expected to participate in the Pink Ribbon Cheer
Classic at Michigan
State University.

Cheer
Classic supports breast cancer research, education and awareness, and is
hosted by MSU's Zeta Tau
Alpha sorority.

This
is the second year for the benefit.

Twenty-one
teams will complete, including the Lansing
Catholic Central
High School cheerleading team and Perry High School cheerleading and dance
teams.

"A
girl's mom on our team died of breast cancer, and that is why we like to
support the cause," said Christy Swope, an 11th-grade varsity
cheerleader at Lansing Catholic.

Teams
will compete for trophies in spirit, performance and individual categories.

Each
team pays $50 per routine to enter the contest.

But
most of the money collected is donated the day of the competition, said Zeta Tau Alpha member Lucie Richards. Spectators pay $5
admission.

"We
got the idea for the Cheer Classic from another chapter in Ohio, and they raised about $15,000 in
their first year, which is the same amount as we raised
last year," said Richards, a communications and accounting senior at
MSU.

Since
all the food is donated and the Michigan High School Athletic Association
judges volunteer their time, the group was able to donate $13,000 of that.

Proceeds
go to the Zeta Tau Alpha Foundation; breast cancer
is the national philanthropy for all of the sorority's chapters, so the Susan
G. Komen Foundation receives most of the money from
the Cheer Classic.

The
foundation's goal is to donate $4 million between 2004 and the end of this
year.

Jodi
Boehringer, the varsity cheer coach for Lansing
Catholic, said the team has enjoyed getting ready for Saturday's event.

"We
really love getting out into the community and doing community service,"
Boehringer said.

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