A common tradition for top athletes is to present them with an honorary poster when they reach a big milestone, like career assists, points scored or matches won. For the first time, though, this honor was given to a cheerleader—senior Libby Winn—for reaching the milestone of cheering at 125 games.
“I was not aware that I had cheered [at] 125 games, so it was all a big surprise I knew nothing about,” Winn said.
Like many others, Winn was first influenced to join cheer by two friends who wanted to spend more time together.
“At the end of eighth grade, I was really good friends with Gabi Tederman and Jade Lewis, and we decided it would be fun if we tried to do cheer together because they all did other sports, so then joining cheer would give us more time to hang out,” Winn said.
As a freshman, Winn was influenced by the upperclassmen leaders on the team.
“Mia Dyer was one of those captains that didn’t let her power get to her head, where she was thinking I’m better than everyone else,” Winn said.
Even though she didn’t understand all the sports action, Winn also liked being part of the supportive environment.
“My freshman year I didn’t understand sports, but I enjoyed going to the games and cheering on the sports teams,” Winn said.
This connection to the teams and her fellow cheerleaders kept Winn involved in cheer even when some of that original friend group stopped participating.
“I stuck with cheer because it helped me create new friendships that will last forever,” Winn said.
As she continued in cheer, Winn also stepped up her leadership skills.
“Libby’s sophomore year, she really changed over the summer and took a lead in communicating and offering to help set things up and just kind of went over and beyond what the other girls were doing,” head cheer coach Megan Encarnacion said.
Winn became a captain her junior year and continues to take on the role her senior year.
“I was one of three captains last year. I didn’t expect to be captain my junior year, but I also worked hard and tried to step up when I had the opportunity to,” Winn said.
Winn describes her leadership style as always being there when someone needs to talk.
“I want to be the person that you can come to and that you’re comfortable with or if you have an issue with something in or outside of school you can come to me,” Winn said.
Freshman Anna Peterson describes Winn as a positive role model who always tries to be helpful toward everyone on the team.
“Libby pushes us in the right direction. She’ll tell us what cheer we’re doing, then she’ll make sure that we do it and do it correctly,” Peterson said.
As she finishes her final year of cheer, Winn aims to bring the team closer together and spend more time bonding together.
“I’ve been trying to bring the team closer, like Scary Acres and a get-to-know-you pool party in the summer, because I feel like it’s an awesome group of girls,” Winn said.
Although Winn does enjoy cheering on the sports teams she also enjoys the friends she makes.
“I think its fun to go to the games and just hang out with the girls on the cheer team and cheer on the sports teams,” Winn said.
