Purdue cheer team celebrates becoming national champions
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WISH) — At a school where football and basketball have dominated headlines this year, one sport has already brought some hardware back to West Lafayette.
“We knew, like 99 percent sure, we just won when we left the mat. You know, we were all crying, looking around at each other like, did that just happen?” Taylor Scheid said.
After back-to-back second place finishes at Nationals, Purdue’s cheer team emerged as national champions.
“I almost don’t even remember because it was so surreal at the moment. It still doesn’t feel real getting back to campus and everyone congratulating you,” Scheid said.
While you’ve become accustomed to seeing the squad on the sidelines with synchronized chants and choreography, the strength needed to pull off stunts may surprise you.
“I was athletic in high school and did sports, but it’s just kind of using different muscles flipping someone over your head as oppose to catching or throwing a ball. You find out you have muscles you didn’t even know about,” Gunther Balensiefer said.
Scheid said, “People don’t understand that at one point in the routine I have two people standing on top of me. We lift people up the whole routine, then flip our body over the next second.”
Purdue cheerleading doesn’t get the same recognition as football or even basketball, but, after winning nationals, they feel like the new big men and women on campus.
“For us to finally be able to represent Purdue, put that ‘P’ on our chest and go out and represent the university, it means a lot. And to come home with a national championship just means even more,” Steve Solberg said.
If you ask for their take on the best atmosphere in college basketball, look no further than Mackey Arena.
“You can feel how much the fans love Purdue and how much they want Purdue to win. It almost makes you tear up listening to the intro and hearing the fans scream when the game is really close. You can just see how much they love Purdue,” Nina Deligio said.
The national champions are working to create one of the best atmospheres in college hoops.