WEBSTER GROVES - Like all the athletic teams at Webster University, the school's competitive cheerleading team has had to adapt and overcome obstacles due to the COVID-19 pandemic during the 2020-21 school year. 

The fall and winter sports teams had their seasons either delayed or pushed back, while the spring sports teams had to adjust their schedules to play more teams closer to home and limit the amount of travel they make away from the St. Louis area. 

The competitive cheerleading team had their usual routine of cheering at Webster's men's and women's home basketball games taken away from them this school year due to the fact that spectators were not allowed to be in the attendance at the games and also the amount of people allowed inside the gym had to be limited to just the teams, officials and essential game day personnel, which includes the workers at the scorer's table and the broadcasters and camera people that produce the webcast.

With the lack of a chance for them to compete this season, Webster competitive cheerleading coach Justin Barton came up with a unique and creative solution - the cheerleader team would cheer at Webster's men's and women's home soccer games that will be played this spring at World Wide Technology Soccer Park in Fenton, Mo. Their first match to cheer at will be on Wednesday, March 10 as the Gorloks host Greenville University. 

"This is a historical opportunity for the Webster University Competitive Cheerleading squad as never in the history of the university or soccer or cheer programs has cheerleading ever cheered for the soccer teams," Barton said. "Many high school teams have soccer cheerleaders, it is just not a traditional things you experience at most college games."

Barton said the idea to cheer at the soccer games came from an idea presented to him by Webster Director of Athletics Scott Kilgallon and he jumped at this chance for his squad to perform this spring.

"Because of COVID restrictions not allowing us the opportunity to cheer for basketball as we usually do, we still wanted to be able to provide our cheer athletes with the opportunity to utilize their skills in some way this season and soccer was the logical choice and was an idea that Scott (Kilgallon) provided as an alternative," said Barton. "We have spent a large amount of time modifying our traditional basketball cheers/chants to work for the soccer season. We have gained support from both the men's and women's soccer teams and we look forward to showing our Gorlok Spirit for them this season."

Along with having its traditional season of cheering at home Webster basketball games, COVID-19 also took away the program's ability to compete at the Cheer Ltd. National Cheerleading Championships last spring in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The team will also not compete at this year's championships, but looks forward to competing in the Spring of 2022. 

"When COVID hit in the Spring of 2020 we were a week away from competing at the Cheer Ltd. National Championships, but because of the onset of the virus that opportunity was canceled," the Webster coach added. 

The last time the Gorloks competed at the Cheer Ltd. National Championships in 2019, Webster finished third nationally in the Division III Open Coed Collegiate Division. That finish was the highest ever for the program in his history. 

Much like the other Gorlok athletic teams, the competitive cheerleading squad has had to make adjustments in how it practices this school year due to the COVID pandemic, but Barton says that the squad has done a good job with the adjustments to their the practice routines. 

"COVID has presented a lot of challenges for the cheer program this year. It has caused us to not be able to stunt or build pyramids as in past years, but the program has persevered and has lost little momentum in our training," Barton stated. "Since August 2020 we have been practicing both virtually and in-person. Every Wednesday the team meets at 7 a.m. for virtual conditioning for an hour. The team utilizes High Intensity Interval Training for our conditioning combined with flexibility work and stretching. Every other Sunday, the team meet in-person for three hours and the Sundays in between we meet virtually for practice. Practice consist of technique work for jumps, motion work for cheers and chants, jump conditioning, and cheer/chant choreography. We have been able to build a robust training program that operate in both in-person and virtual modalities."

Barton says that since the beginning of the pandemic last March, things have been a challenge for his team with the COVID-19 restrictions, but he is proud with how his team has handled those challenges and had adapted.

"It's been a difficult adjust for many of our veterans, especially our seniors as they have had the taste of national competition in the past. It is really hard to go from being a competitive cheerleading squad that practices integral stunts, and builds complicated pyramids, mixed with intense choreography, to a team that only practices in person every other week, with no stunting and the inability to practice with the same intensity because of the COVID restrictions, but i am proud of how resilient these cheerleaders have been," Barton added. "We are now going on two years straight on missing out of nationals, but these athletes understand that their responsibility is to represent Webster University in a positive manner however they can, whenever they are called to."

Despite the disappointment of missing the national championships for the second consecutive season and not being able to cheer at home basketball games during the 2020-21 school year, Barton says his squad is just thankful for the opportunity they have been given to cheer at the soccer games.

"I know we will miss our basketball teams and fans this year, but we are excited to cheer on our soccer teams this season," the Webster coach said. "The disappointment of not being able to compete is hard, but this team functions as a family and we are thankful for the opportunity we have been given to keep moving forward. We know that there are good things to come and we will continue to train to the best of our ability and a nationally-ranked Competitive Cheerleading program and we look forward to the day we can throw on another in the air again, be in the stands with the fans, and on the competition mat."

The members of this year's Competitive Cheerleading team are: 

• Freshman Katarina Ausley (O'Fallon Ill./O'Fallon Township) 
• Junior Tiana Barr (Chicago, Ill./Bolingbrook)
• Sophomore McKaylah Bell (Florissant, Mo./Marquette Catholic)
• Senior captain Cat Boren (Byrnes Hill, Mo./Rockwood Summit)
• Sophomore Madeleine Danna (Kirkwood, Mo./Kirkwood)
• Freshman Taylor Friend (St. Louis, Mo./Affton)
• Freshman Hope Gowin (Fulton, Mo./Fulton)
• Freshman Madison Lott (St. Louis, Mo./Hazelwood Central)
• Freshman Dashauna Mairidith (St. Louis, Mo./Soldan International Studies HS)
• Senior Anna Powers (St. Louis, Mo./Metro Academic & Classical)
• Senior captain Raven Ritrovato (St. Clair, Mo./St. Clair)
• Junior Megan Sander (High Ridge, Mo./Northwest)
• Freshman Jona Vercide (American Canyon, Calif./Notre Dame Regional)
• Junior Lexi Young (Fenton, Mo./Northwest)
• Coach Justin Barton
• Assistant Coach Lexi Hoffman