Sisters succeed in cheer

CASTALIA — Two sisters keep giving their family plenty of reasons to cheer for them. Madyson "Mady" Morris, a 2021 Margaretta High School graduate, and Katelyn Cox, a 2024 Margaretta High School graduate, not only attend college together but earned prestigious positions on Cleveland State University's cheerleading team. Every home game at downtown's Wolstein Center, they're on the baselines, rooting on, stunting and pumping up the crowd for men's and women's basketball games. It's rare for a cheerleader to land an elusive roster spot for any Division I school. But the odds seem insurmountable for two related individuals hailing from the same small-town community — Castalia, which boasts less than 750 residents — to compete side-by-side with one another. Count their mother, Jennifer Morris Cox, as their biggest believer who always bursts with pride seeing them perform. She considers herself their biggest fan. "Madyson and Katelyn are both kind, smart, driven and compassionate young ladies," said Morris Cox, who watched both hone their talents as cheerleaders while attending Margaretta High School. "They both put their heart into everything they do," she added. "They both love Jesus, and their inner beauty inspires me to be a better person. Both of my girls have overcome things in their lives that have made them the strong and amazing young women they both are today. Being their mom is one of my greatest blessings." Mady, a senior at Cleveland State, expects to graduate in May with a degree in early childhood education. Learning time-management skills as a cheerleader, she hopes to, one day, become an elementary school teacher with ambitions of doing so at Margaretta. In the three prior years, Morris Cox would often bring Katelyn to Cleveland where they would watch Mady perform at the university. Watching her older sister perform gave Katelyn — a college freshman studying social studies who aspires to become a cheerleading coach and Bible study leader — inspiration to try out and achieve the infrequent feat of two siblings competing on the same Division I team. Katelyn said cheerleading gave her the right mindset to pursue these goals. "When Katelyn made the decision to try out for the squad and made it, we were ecstatic," Morris Cox said. "Not many people get to say they get to watch their daughter cheer at a D1 college — let alone both of their daughters." She continued: "Watching my girls out on the court smiling and still doing what they love is such a fulfilling feeling. To watch them on the court cheering together at a Division I college is something I never dreamed would happen. I am thankful for this year that I have had to see them cheer together. I am soaking up every second. These are memories that I will hold dear to my heart forever." Q&A Both Mady and Katelyn took a timeout from their studies and cheer routines to answer some questions about competing at the collegiate level: Q: How long have you been cheerleading for? What made you passionate about the sport at an early age? KC: I have been a cheerleader for going on seven years. My career began with trying out for the cheerleading team my seventh-grade year at Bellevue. (Morris Cox) is the reason I tried out for the team and fell in love with the sport. She encouraged me to try something new and give it a chance. Before I tried out, I was shy, didn't have many friends and didn't have much confidence. Cheerleading has made me the person I am today. It has brought me some of my closest friends from high school and has given me an opportunity to make friends in college who share the same passion for cheerleading as I do. It has made me confident in the person I am and allowed me to open up and be myself. My passion for cheerleading began almost immediately after making the cheer team in seventh grade. The one thing that made it so easy to fall in love with cheer is how welcoming the sport is. All of the girls on the team became close friends of mine, and I automatically felt like I was where I was supposed to be. The cheer team became my second family: The more time I spent on the team, the closer I grew to the girls and deeper our love for the sport became. MM: I have been a cheerleader for as long as I can remember. When I was 4 years old, my mom put me on my first ever cheer team, and I haven't stopped since then. Q: What did you enjoy most about cheerleading in high school? KC: One aspect of cheerleading in high school that I loved the most was the atmosphere of game days. I loved getting ready for the games and riding the bus together and getting to become closer to the girls on the team. I loved looking up in the stands at a Margaretta game and seeing the whole community there to support the team along with my teachers and classmates there having fun while showing their school spirit. Most of all, I loved looking up in the stands to see my parents smiling down at me and being able to cheer for my brothers, Keiygan and Robbie, and seeing the passion they have for their sports. Feeling like you can't stop smiling while cheering on your hometown team is one of the greatest feelings to experience. MM: What I enjoyed most about cheerleading in high school was the community and the atmosphere that there was at sporting events. I truly believe that there is nothing like the support from a community in a small town, like Castalia, Ohio. The atmosphere and energy that the Polar Bears and fans bring to football and basketball games, is something so special. I loved being on the field or on the court cheering my teams on with the student section and crowd. I also had some great friendships with the other cheerleaders and my coach, that I still have to this day. Q: What do you enjoy most about cheerleading in college? KC: In college, I have grown a passion for stunting at a higher level. Since Margaretta and Bellevue weren't able to stunt, it was something new and exciting that I got to try and become better at. At first, it's very intimidating to learn alongside those who have much more experience with stunting than I started with. But each and every girl on the team has helped me grow and become better at the skills I have now. Mady has had the biggest impact on me when it comes to stunting. I started off learning the same position as Mady, and she always took a second to see how I'm doing and gives me advice on how to become better. She pushes me to become better and more skilled every time we're at cheer, and that is one of the things I'm most grateful for. Going to a completely new city for college all by yourself is intimidating. But, for me, I was fortunate enough to have my sister there to help me navigate my way around and help me become a better cheerleader and student. MM: One thing that I enjoy most about cheerleading in college is the friendships that I have made through the program. I have made lifelong friendships, thanks to Cleveland State cheer. I also love that it was my escape from school and classes. Being on campus and always surrounded by the school environment, going to cheer was always a great place to go and set aside school and stress for a few hours. Q: What is expected of you as a collegiate cheerleader? KC: We are considered to be the student ambassadors of Cleveland State University. We are expected to set good examples of what it means to be a Viking and get the crowd out of their seats and ready to cheer on the team to a victory. We are expected to help the university make college basketball game days a fun experience for the crowd while giving the team a home-court advantage to help support them to their win. MM: I am one of three seniors on the Cleveland State cheer team, therefore, I take on quite a big leadership role for the team. I call all of our cheers on the sidelines each game, and I work with my coach to make game-day decisions, such as uniforms and stunts to put on the court. I also am a main line of communication for the team. As far as stunting goes, I am a side base, but I will occasionally take on the flyer role. My freshman and sophomore years, I was a flyer but had a pretty serious tailbone injury that led me to staying out of the air as much as possible for safety and health reasons. Q: What is something about cheerleading at this level that many others don't understand? KC: Something that I think many people aren't aware of when it comes to cheerleading at a collegiate level is the level of commitment you have for not only cheer but for the men's and women's basketball teams. We have practice multiple times a week for several hours to advance our skills and become more confident in what we do. We create stunt sequences of pyramids and other individual skills to showcase our skills on the court during media timeouts during the basketball games. On top of practices, we are at every home game for both the men's and the women's basketball teams, a total of 32 men's and women's games, for the season not including the March Madness tournament. Balancing cheerleading on top of schoolwork and other responsibilities can be a lot, but it always gives me something to look forward to during the week. MM: Many people might not understand the time commitment that comes with cheerleading at the collegiate level. I am not only a student-athlete, but I am also currently a student-teacher. This means that I student-teach all day, every day for eight hours, then I go straight from teaching to my seminar class for two hours, then right to practice or a game. Cheer practices or games take up at least three hours of your day. Games are typically four hours of your day between warm-ups and the game, and some weekends we have doubleheaders because we cheer for both the men's and women's basketball teams. So cheering at the collegiate level takes up a lot of time, and you have to find that balance with cheer and your school work and other responsibilities and make sure you are staying on top of everything while also learning how to navigate adulthood. Q: What is your biggest achievement to date in cheerleading? KC: My biggest achievement when it comes to cheerleading is having the opportunity to experience cheerleading at the collegiate level. I didn't make the cheerleading team in my junior year of high school. Looking back at it, it was one of the biggest setbacks I experienced in high school. The same year, I moved to Margaretta High School and had to start over. I made the cheerleading team and slowly watched my spark and confidence return in cheerleading. At the end of football and basketball seasons, I was awarded the Coaches and Most Spirited Award, the same awards Mady received in high school as well. I would consider my biggest achievement in cheer would be taking an unfortunate situation and using it as motivation to become better. Not only that, but it has made me appreciate my time on the team much more because I know how it feels to not get the opportunity to do something I love. MM: Two of my proudest awards that I have received during my cheerleading career are the spirit awards. In high school, I was awarded the Most Spirited Award. And last season at Cleveland State, I was awarded the Viking Spirit Award. These spirit awards are so important to me because I feel that being spirited embodies what being a cheerleader is all about. My biggest achievement to date was getting to cheer at March Madness during my sophomore year for the Cleveland State Women's basketball team at Villanova University. The entire March Madness experience was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing and is truly a memory I will never forget. Q: The men's basketball team is really good at Cleveland State right now, currently in first place within the Horizon League. Does that make cheerleading even more fun/special? KC: It is the coolest thing ever to see how much a team grows together as the basketball season advances. At the beginning of the season, you can tell all of the players are a bit nervous and are running through the drills and the motions. But, as the season continues, you can see how much each player gets more familiar with their teammates and begin to have fun with the sport. I love the close games most of all when the score is tied and you are on your toes until the final buzzer. Those are the games that make sitting on the sideline and throwing up a stunt to get the crowd pumped up the most fun. Getting to cheer for a Division I basketball team that (was) tied for the longest winning streak in the nation is one of the most unique experiences that I will forever cherish. Seeing the fans get out of their seats to applaud the team after the final buzzer goes off is one of my favorite moments where you stop to soak it all in and be present in the moment. MM: Our men's team is doing exceptionally well right now, which makes cheering even more fun. We have bigger turnouts at games, more events to be a part of and hopes of getting to travel are higher and higher. With the men's success, we have a high potential to win the Horizon League championship or even hopefully get to March Madness again. Q: What are some life lessons that cheerleading has taught you? KC: One of the many life lessons that cheer has taught me is how important hard work and dedication is to succeeding. Cheerleading has taught me to go after something you are passionate about and to never let someone tell you that you aren't good enough. For me, I have watched these traits that have been learned from my experience in cheer affect other aspects of my life as well. It has made me a hardworking employee, a disciplined student and has allowed me to give advice to others when they need it. Another life lesson cheer has given me is to always be kind to others. As soon as you get to a football or basketball game, you are expected to have a big smile on your face and have a positive attitude no matter if the team is winning or losing. In a way, I feel like this has given me a different outlook on life. Just because someone has a bright smile on their face doesn't mean they aren't struggling. With that in mind, it has taught me to be kind to everyone because you never know what is going on behind their smile. MM: Cheerleading has instilled so many life lessons in me. Cheerleading has helped me to work on my teamwork, team building and how to be a good teammate. It has improved my collaboration. It has made me a better leader because a lot of the underclassmen depend on me. The stunting aspect of cheerleading has helped me build trust with the people I work and stunt with. Cheerleading has enhanced my mental toughness through stunting and tumbling. And lastly, cheerleading has helped me with perseverance and resilience throughout my injury. Q: What message do you have for cheerleaders who are in high school or younger about continuing on? What advice would you give to them? KC: To anyone who is considering trying out for the cheerleading team or furthering their career at a collegiate level, my advice to you is to give it all you got. Put yourself out there: Cheerleading is such a rewarding sport to be a part of, and it will give you some of your favorite memories to look back on. Have confidence in all you do, have determination to become better and watch all of the hard work pay off in front of your eyes. Don't give up until you reach your goals. MM: No matter the age, always smile and have fun and know that there are other little girls out there looking up to you, wanting to be just like you when they get older, so always be the best role model you can be. Something I want cheerleaders to know, who may be wanting to continue their cheerleading career in college, but maybe they are unsure or hesitant, do it. Take the risk or lose the change. It could be the best thing to happen to you, but you will never know unless you try. The friendships and connections that you can make through cheerleading are ones that will last a lifetime and I believe it is all worth it.