Dai ly Eastern News
THE
WWW. DAILYEASTERNNEWS.COM
Friday, Oct. 18, 2013
VOL. 98 | ISSUE 44
“TELL THE TRUTH AND DON’T BE AFRAID”
athletics
INSIDE HOMECOMING WEEKEND
Unusual athlete shines page 3
Linebacker loves literature page 8
erge V OCT. 18, 2013
Dominic Baima | The Daily Eastern Ne ws
Members of the EIU Cheer Team perform during a football game against Illinois State on Sept. 14 on O’Brien Field.
Cheerleaders keep spirit alive By Ashley Holstrom Staff Reporter @alholstrom
The Daily Eastern News' weekly arts and entertainment section
H omecoming
2013 Your guide to an awesome Homecoming Weekend! Your
path to a great
homecoming - p age 4
K ing
and queen reflect on win
- p age 5 B attle
of the
B ands
winners discuss music
- p age 8
Weekend activities, events page 1B
They’re at every home football and men’s and women’s basketball game, on the sidelines with their crisp blue uniforms and shiny pom-poms. They’re even branching out and cheering for other teams, like soccer and cross country, as per the requests of those teams. They don’t get scholarships. They don’t get much funding. They do it for the love of the sport. Eastern’s cheerleaders on the EIU Cheer Team were even willing to pay their own way to go to the football games at Southern IllinoisCarbondale and Northern Illinois this season. But the athletic department told them they couldn’t go, coach Brian Allen said. He said he gets an operating budget each year, most of which usually goes toward travel for postseason tournament games. This year, he used it to buy the team new uniforms. Next year, he said he wants to buy new mats. The
current ones are 18 years old. Outside of the operating budget, the cheerleaders have to buy their own gear: practice clothes, warmup outfits, shoes. They also have fundraisers like cheer clinics to teach elementary, junior high and high school students to cheer. Those fundraisers will come in handy for Allen’s big goal this year: the National Cheerleaders Association competition in Daytona Beach, Fla., in April. The team’s last competition was almost 10 years ago and it took eighth out of 16 teams in the nation. Allen wants to go back. “If you want the quality cheerleaders to represent your school, then you have to compete,” Allen said. “You have to. That’s the way cheerleading is moving now.” Chaney Ruffin, a freshman, and the lone man on the team, said he is confident the team could compete and be just as well known as the football team: as a champion team. “There’s a lot of raw talent and
if we harvest it, this team could be amazing,” Ruffin said. “I believe this team could go to any small coed competition and take first.” Competing isn’t all that matters for this team, though. “For me, it’s always been a part of who I am,” said senior captain Allie Moran. She’s cheered since she was in fifth grade and said she plans on staying in the cheerleading world, hoping to coach high school in the future. Having been a captain since her sophomore year, a leadership role like that would come naturally to her. Her captain duties vary from leading routines at practice, to calling cheers at games, to being the line of communication between the athletic department and the team. She’s not the only one who calls cheers at games, though; everyone on the team knows when a cheer is needed to pep up the crowd. If they don’t, she urges her teammates to learn the game. CHEER, page 5
REMEMBERING KAELYNN
t the first home football game, members of the A cheerleading team wore gray T-
shirts with “Fly high, Kae” written in curly white font. They were in honor of Kaelynn Fay, a freshman cheerleader who died in a car crash over the summer. Her family and high school team were at the Sept. 14 game, since it would have been her first game cheering at Eastern. “Fly high, Kae” was the saying that was “booming on social media” when she died, Moran said. Fay was a flyer. “Kaelynn is still a part of our squad and we think of Kaelynn all the time,” senior captain Allie Moran said. “We think of Kaelynn at practice, we think of Kaelynn at games, we always think of Kaelynn.” The team members presented Fay’s framed uniform to her family at the game.
C AMPUS
Homecoming ‘chuck’ full of activities, events By Juwaan Wright Staff Reporter @DEN_News From the Homecoming Pep Rally to Billy’s Backyard Tailgate, Eastern has numerous of events planned for students, alumnus and commu-
nity members to attend this year. This year, Eastern’s Homecoming theme is “Paint the Town Blue,” celebrating the Panther nation. With this year’s football team having a successful start of a season, students like Brooke Dykema are looking forward to the game
against Southeast Missouri State at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at O’Brien Field. Dykema, a senior management major, said she is looking forward to showing her school spirit. “I’m excited for the football game, and the fact that this is my
last year at EIU, I’m planning to make the most fun out of these events,” Dykema said. Dykema added she enjoyed the “Deck the Halls” event, where several offices around campus decorated their doors and interiors to reflect the school spirit.
More events are planned that do not center just on football for Homecoming. The Homecoming Parade will be at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, beginning at Old Main.
ACTIVITIES, page 5