SIUSLAW NEWS | SATURDAY, MAY 15, 2021 | 3B
Cheer
Sandusky being the captain
of the squad, but the two
were on the same page the
whole way through.
“She immediately got
back to me saying that she
was thinking the same
thing,” said Straley. “She'd
rather be safe than sorry
and have her team injured.
So, we changed that, adapt-
ed, added new things, and it
worked out really well.”
Without that part of scor-
ing in competition, Straley
saw a big difference in the
teams tumbling and our
from 1B
“We had a couple of
injuries from stunting, so I
reached out to Adria
[Sandusky] one night and
asked her, with it being her
senior year, if it would be
okay if we switched to
non-building, meaning we
just wouldn't stunt in our
routine — no lifts, throws
or tosses, just jumps, tum-
bling and dance.”
It was a difficult decision
to make, especially with
non-building skills at com-
petitions.
“Our scores were higher
than they were last year
and, knowing that with the
time we spent really clean-
ing it [up] — even next year
with new members — that
portion will still be strong
enough that we can score
even higher and hopefully
compete against some of the
schools that are way bigger
than we are.”
Making the move to com-
pete as a non-building team
this year also allowed the
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squad to compete on more
even ground.
“For this competition that
we just recorded, which is
the OCCA (Oregon
Cheerleading Coaches
Association)
Championships Traditional
Routine, we're competing
against Henley, Cottage
Grove and Ontario, and
they’re all ‘non-building,’”
said Straley. “So, this year
was kind of splitting it up
with your 4A building
teams and your 4A
non-building teams.”
Having Sandusky — who
is a fourth-year cheerleader
and second year captain —
as a sounding bourd has
also been a tremendous
asset to Straley. Aside from
the fact that Sandusky has
been with the team for all
of her high school career,
she has cheering in her
blood; her mother was a
major motivation for her
continuing her career as a
cheerleader throughout her
tenure at Siuslaw.
“My mom did cheer at
Marshfield,” explained
Sandusky, “so she was
always saying, ‘When I have
a little girl, she's going to do
cheer!’” So, I did, and I real-
ly fell in love with it.”
In addition to her
improvement as a result of
hard work put in, Sandusky
cites her friendships with
her teammates as another
reason for committing to
the squad over the years.
“All the girls that I've met
have really been my best
friends,” she said, noting
that she didn't have a lot of
friends in high school. “I
just really focused on home-
work and that was it. But
once I got to cheer, it didn't
even feel like practice. It just
kind of felt like I got to
hang out with my friends
and have a good time creat-
ing bonds with everybody.
That's what kept me going; I
had really great people at
practice and they just made
it so fun.”
According to Sandusky,
the most challenging aspect
of this year as a captain —
and also as an athlete in
track and field — was the
late start of the season.
“They weren't accepting
indoor sports for a long
time,” said Sandusky, “and
even though cheer could
really be indoor or outdoor,
they just weren't accepting
it for a long time, so it was
kind of hard to find that
time to practice.”
In addition, it was virtual
for quite a while, which
made it difficult to learn the
routines as quickly as nor-
mal. Plus, the senior was
also working five days a
week.
“So, trying to find those
days that I could come in
[was a challenge]. I came in
after a seven-hour shift
today, and I was like, ‘Okay,
cheer!’”
Sandusky definitely has a
glass-half-full mentality,
and an incredible work
ethic for such a young per-
son.
“It's kind of a blessing
and a curse with COVID,”
she said, “because with the
virtual [experience], it gave
me time at home to do it,
but I was also able to work
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full time — so I've been able
to afford really great things
and still do cheer while
doing school online.”
As a captain, Sandusky
feels a strong responsibility
to her team as a leader. She
notes, “Of course coach
keeps them in check, but
[so do I], because I'm actu-
ally out on the floor with
them correcting them.
[Sometime at practice], I
would be with the girls, tell-
ing them have confidence,
raise your voice, sharpen
your motions, this is what it
needs to look like!
“I feel like that was prob-
ably one of my biggest
responsibilities: keeping
them encouraged, making
sure they had confidence
and that they were hitting
everything that they needed
to hit.”
Sandusky was a great
source of motivation for her
team throughout and
described how last year’s
state competition was her
best memory of her cheer-
leading career at Siuslaw.
“It was the only year that
I've been able to go to state,”
she explained. “It was kind
of messy, there was some
drama, but we pushed
through and pulled together
as a team. But just having
the experience of going to
state and getting ready and
feeling the adrenaline was
probably my favorite mem-
ory altogether.”
As far as this year,
Sandusky has been very
proud of her team for the
speed with which they were
able to learn their routines
after having their season cut
short. And she has cher-
ished the bond they devel-
oped this year as a result.
“Past years before com-
petitions,” she said, “we'd
have months and months
before to practice, but this
year, we had maybe a
month before our first
competition, and we didn't
know anything. But all the
girls really tried their hard-
est to learn as quickly as
they could, which is what
I'm really proud of them
for. Everybody could really
put in their best effort, and
it turned out good.”
After this school year
ends, Sandusky plans to
attend Oregon State
University (OSU) for
e-campus studies, and she
will also assistant coach
cheer with Straley.
Sandusky has a big inter-
est in bees, so she will
attend some classes in per-
son for OSU’s beekeeping
program with the intention
of one day starting her
own business.
“Adria has been a tre-
mendously good captain,”
noted Straley. “She tried
out last year as a jun-ior
for captaincy and has done
great. We've just had this
bond where, if she's frus-
trated with something in
practice, she can come to
me about it — and if I'm
frustrated with something,
we kind of just have each
other's back. So, with her
assistant coaching next
year and being an extra set
of eyes, it will be great. I
look forward to having her
with us.”
Both Straley and
Sandusky hopes that the
future brings more tro-
phies to the squad, as well
as more recognition for the
school as a competition
team.
“That’s something that a
lot of people don't know,”
said Straley. “Yesterday, we
did a performance for
some of the staff at the
high school, because some
of them don't know that
we do competition outside
of cheering at football
games or basketball games.
We're like, ‘Actually, we
have a whole secret thing
we do behind your backs!’”
Hopefully, next year will
bring even more success to
the voice of the Vikings.