By ASHLEY STREHL, Student Reporter
“Go Rangers Go!” This line is well heard at any basketball or football game on the NWOSU Campus. Many Ranger fans will find it hard not to clap along to the Ranger song, and many fans would agree that the games would not be the same without the cheerleaders.
There are 21 members on the squad and each of them play an important role in not only supporting our football and basketball teams but getting the audience involved in the games. The Ranger Cheerleaders work hard to make every cheer loud and every stunt safe, and practices are three times a week and they include perfecting stunts and lifts, and each working on their physical strength to improve their technique by participating their conditioning workouts and cardio. Safety is important to the squad and they all work hard to make sure they are strong enough for their stunts and routines.
Briana Fitzgerald is a freshman attending Northwestern who is a base for the squad. “I visit the wellness center every day to run and improve my strength, endurance and flexibility to be a better base,” she said. ”I love being a cheer leader because I get to make lots of amazing friends and showcase what I love doing.”
Each Semester brings new things for the squad, and they’ve got a number of things they are looking forward to for 2017. The squads coach and captains have especially been preparing for new recruits in the fall. Joel Goncalez, a co- captain for the cheer squad says that they are especially working on a squad routine for competitions. “The goal is to get to the collegiate level of competition,” Gonzalez said. “We’ve been scouting for new cheerleaders this semester that will strengthen our squad for competitions.”
The coach has been putting together tryout routines for the spring tryouts. Shelbi Mooreland is a freshman here at Northwestern, and she is a base for the ranger cheer squad. “I’m really trying to work on my upper body strength lately, so I can be a better base for the remaining semester,” Mooreland said. ”The best part of cheerleading is seeing the kids that look up to you. When you’re on the court and you see little kids jumping up and down trying to imitate your moves is what makes it fun. It’s a good reminder to be someone worth looking up to.”
Gabrielle Cepero is also a freshman cheerleader at Northwestern who is a base for the squad. “I’m learning to be more versatile in the different spots,” Cepero said. “I just love getting out in front of everyone and showing them the skills that we all work so hard to accomplish during practice.“
Upcoming events include a kids min-cheer camp on February 11, for Pre-K through Junior High. The squad will invite kids to work with the members on a dance and a cheer, and they will then perform at the halftime of a game in the next week. There are basketball games every Saturday for the next month. Come and support our players and cheerleaders!