Morris cheerleaders are set for state competition

MORRIS – Their season officially began Nov. 1, but they have been working out since the summer. During the competitive season, they are involved six days a week. In the month of January, they had all of two days off.

They are dedicated. They work hard. They are athletes in every sense of the word.

They are the Morris Community High School cheerleaders.

“These girls work hard,” head coach Kristin Sanders said. “They go two minutes straight of stunts, jumps, yelling and dance. It takes a lot of athleticism and teamwork.”

Last weekend, all that hard work paid off as Morris finished second in the Medium Team division at the Bartonville Limestone Sectional. That earned the team a spot in the IHSA state finals at U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington on the Illinois State University campus. They begin performing at 9:17 a.m. today in the preliminary competition, with hopes of advancing to Saturday’s finals.

“We want to hit clean and make it in the top 10 the first day,” senior co-captain Megan McComb said. “If we make it to the second day, we will just do our best and see what happens.”

During last weekend’s sectional, Sanders said the team posted its highest score of the year. It’s something she’d like to see again this weekend.

“We are pretty young,” she said. “We only have two seniors [McComb and Kelsey Hider]. But the girls are all so talented that I am not surprised at what they have done.

“We started out the season a little slow, but we have gotten better as the year has gone on. We got our best score of the year last week, and we hope we can carry that momentum with us into this weekend.”

Sanders is assisted by Ashley Cook and Ali Ergo, and they have what they feel is a secret weapon in MCHS principal Kelly Hussey on their side. Hussey helps with the tumbling for the team, but his main purpose is as a motivator.

“Mr. Hussey has been very fun to work with,” Hider said. “He’s very helpful.”

Even though they compete together almost every weekend, it’s the down time that stands out for the captains.

“My favorite part of the season has been the cheer parties,” Hider said. “That’s when we just get together and hang out, eat, watch movies. These girls are a lot of fun to be with.”

With the team graduating six seniors from last year’s squad, there is a different look for this year’s club.

“Last year, we had really strong leadership with six seniors,” McComb said. “This year, there’s just two of us, so it’s a little different. We do different routines every year, so it’s been fun learning new stuff this year. We really like it.”

“I am anxious and excited about Friday,” Hider said. “I know it’s going to be great being in that big arena, but I am going to be sad when it’s over because it’s our last performance together.”