Colton cheerleaders return after absence

Garth Meyer, Gazette Reporter | Feb 06, 20130

Colton High School has a new addition on the sidelines after a four-year absence.

(Clockwise from back left) Carrie Hennigar, Anna Ware, Shelby Purcell and Adelaide Willis.

Cheerleaders have returned after a group of girls expressed interest last spring to bring them back.

Administrators approved, a coach was hired and a four-girl group made their debut in early football season after a required 10 practices. In basketball the squad has added more cheers and maneuvers.

“It’s been really fun,” said sophomore Carrie Hennigar. “Just getting our crowd into it and watching the team win. At first nobody really liked it. The boys kind of think we’re annoying cheering on the sidelines but it’s getting better.”

This is Hennigar’s first year as a cheerleader. She is also the starting catcher for the girls softball team, playing last year as a freshman.

“I always loved starting the cheers on the sidelines,” she said.

Colton’s new cheerleaders practice two hours a day, except Wednesdays and game days. They travel to every game, supporting the girls’ and boys’ basketball teams.

“The (squad) is beyond spirited, they have drive, motivation and they love cheering,” said cheerleading coach Dakota McMillan. “I couldn’t be more proud of how far they’ve come.”

A sophomore at WSU, McMillan spent four years as a varsity cheerleader for Union High School in Camas. The summer before her senior year, while filming a gymnastics recruitment video, she ruptured her Achilles tendon which led to the end of her performing.

Colton hired her soon after she returned to Pullman for the school year in August.

One of the first orders of business for the new team was to get out the old uniforms.

“They had some very old ones in a closet,” McMillan said.

There was some leftover money from the previous cheer program so the team bought new uniforms, pom-poms and warmups.

All told, the experience has been quite different from what McMillan knows, coming from a high school of 3,500 kids with 60 cheerleaders.

Colton’s four-girl squad dropped to three during basketball season. Nonetheless, they carry on, including Hennigar and freshman Shelby Purcell and eighth-grader Adelaide Willis.

“Their jumps and kicks are getting pretty high,” said McMillan. “It’s been a great opportunity. I haven’t heard a single complaint.”

As the playoffs begin this week, there will be new things in store.

The squad has two new cheers and a new dance ready, said Hennigar.