It’s a brisk Friday evening in September, bright lights illuminate the football field and fans are pouring in to watch the Mustangs compete once again. However, for Kambree Hultquist there is much more to the night than just watching the game.
Hultquist is one of two cheerleaders currently on the team who has been in it for all four years of high school. Because of her continued involvement, she became a cheer captain this year. “The other cheerleaders kind of just elected me for it because I was one of the only ones that had been in it for all four years.” The best part of cheerleading for Hultquist is just being around other cheerleaders in a team environment and supporting her friends as they compete on the field or the court.
Hultquist said that her favorite events to cheer at are football games. Football, being outside, allows the cheerleaders to do more advanced stunts than at basketball games. Hultquist also talked about how the cheer environment is much different at football games. “There’s more people, and there is a student section that has lots of energy,” said Hultquist. This is compared to basketball games where the cheerleaders sometimes feel like they aren’t as welcomed by the students.
Hultquist, 18, has been on the cheer team since she was in middle school. She became interested in cheerleading because it seemed similar to gymnastics, which she was already involved in. Hultquist even participated in the “Mini Mustangs” at Mount Vernon when she was in elementary school. The Mini Mustangs is where kids are welcomed to get introduced to cheer to try and get them involved in it. Ever since then Hultquist was hooked on cheerleading.
Hultquist intends to continue her athletic and academic career at Buena Vista University, where she is receiving a scholarship for cheerleading. She said that the college cheer environment is much different than high school. “In college they have competitions, not just sideline cheer,” said Hultquist. This allows the team at BVU to be much more competitive, and push themselves even more with the stunts they perform. Hultquist also said that the BVU cheer coach seemed open to new things and very passionate about the sport.