Cheerleader continues cheering after
breaking neck

Associated Press

March 6, 2006, 3:53
PM ET

ST.
LOUIS -- Kristi Yamaoka wasn't about to let a broken neck and
concussion keep her school spirit down.

AP Photo

Yamaoka's routine
from her gurney got her a standing ovation.

The Southern Illinois University
cheerleader lost her balance during a routine Sunday and fell about 15 feet
onto her head, hushing the crowd of about 14,000 as she was placed in a back
and neck brace.

But the 18-year-old sophomore,
in fair condition Monday and expected to make a full recovery from chipped
neck vertebra and a concussion, let the stunned fans and national television
audience know right away that she was going to be OK.

When the pep band fired up SIU's fight song "Go Southern Go," Yamaoka gave
a two-handed thumbs up from the gurney, then moved her arms -- the only
things not strapped down -- in time to the music and cheered.

"As long as my arms were
functioning, I could do the fight song," a groggy
Yamaoka told The Associated Press by telephone Monday morning from Saint Louis University Hospital.

"I just knew that it would
be a little easier for my team and squad to concentrate if they knew I was OK
and not worrying about me," she said. "I didn't want the team to
get distracted. I needed them to win for me."

They did. The Salukis beat
Bradley 59-46 in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament final, earning
their fifth-straight berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Yamaoka's routine from the
gurney got her a standing ovation at the Savvis Center and mention later on national
sports TV highlights packages. She said her season is over -- doctors have
told her not to perform for six weeks.

Yamaoka, of Springfield, Ill.,
said she doesn't remember the midcourt tumble
during a timeout with 3:25 left to play. She was supposed to dismount to the
front of the human pyramid, where two cheerleaders were ready to catch her,
said the squad's cheerleading coach, Jennifer Graeff.

But Yamaoka lost her balance and
tumbled off the back, landing on her head.

"It's a little bit scary
falling from 15 feet," Yamaoka said. "That kind of thing doesn't
happen often."

Yamaoka was motionless for a few
minutes on the court, but says she recalls hearing SIU's
fight song and couldn't resist leading the cheer as she was taken away in a
brace.

"I do remember that, the
fight song," she said.

Graeff urged Yamaoka to stay still,
fearing her cheer could hurt her more. But Graeff
saw that the medical crews at Yamaoka's side didn't seem to have much of a
problem with the impromptu show of spirit, so Graeff
let it go.

"She didn't want to leave
the floor. She said, 'Just let me finish the game,"' Graeff
said Monday. "That's Kristi -- 100 percent school spirit."

Yamaoka asked about whether
anyone had videotaped the game, specifically the last 4 minutes, Graeff said.

"I just thought she wanted
to see the fall," Graeff said. "But she
wanted to see how the Salukis did."