Double Duty

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Area volleyballers split time as cheerleaders on Friday nights

There’s more to Friday nights than football.

Just ask Katelynn Leist. The St. Paul senior has been pulling double duty on Friday nights between volleyball and cheerleading for a few years now.

“You have to make time for yourself,” Leist said. “I’ve been cheering and playing volleyball since fifth grade.”

Leist also runs cross country in the fall, and plays basketball and softball for the Lady Cardinals in the winter and spring, respectively. Believe it or not, Leist isn’t the only area athlete who has to pull double duty on Friday nights.

Five area schools – Gonzales, Luling, Nixon-Smiley, Shiner and St. Paul – all have female athletes who compete in volleyball matches before changing into cheerleading uniforms to go cheer their football teams on to victory Friday nights. The five schools combined for 20 cheerleaders/mascots/volleyball players this year.

“You get used to it,” Gonzales junior Danyelle Glass said. “It gets easier and you learn to manage your time better as the years go by.”

Glass is one of four volleyball players who cheer for Gonzales, and this is her second year to pull Friday night double duty. The others are sophomore Kendall Fougeret, junior Cassidy LaFleur and senior Morgan Simper.

“It’s a great experience to play a sport that I love and then do something else I love after the match (cheerleading),” LaFleur said.

LaFleur is in her second year as a varsity cheerleader, but first as a varsity volleyball player. Fougeret, on the other hand, is a varsity first-timer in both.

“It’s overwhelming, but good to be able to do both,” Fougeret said.

In addition to playing volleyball and cheering, Fougeret also runs cross country. She likes cross country because it gives her the opportunity to “clear her mind.”

Simper is a three-year letterman in both volleyball and cheer as well as a four-year letterman in softball. She also happens to be the only senior on the cheer squad at Gonzales.

“I didn’t know how being the only senior cheerleader would pan out at first, but I really like it,” Simper said. “I don’t think of myself as ‘the only senior.’ I think of myself as part of the squad and I really enjoy being a cheerleader.”

Simper is currently ranked No. 1 in her graduating class, but will not participate in athletics in college. She will miss her time at Gonzales High School.

“I’ll miss Friday nights the most,” Simper said. “You grow close to the boys and you grow a bond with them cheering them on every night.”

St. Paul has five cheerleaders/volleyball players in Leist, Mary Adamek, Abby Hull, Kymberlie Malatek and Melanie Wagner. Adamek, Hull and Leist are seniors, while Malatek and Wagner are juniors.

Until this season, Adamek ran cross country in addition to playing volleyball and cheering alongside Leist. The two have won four state championships so far – two cross country, two softball – and they’re gunning for more as the Lady Cardinals are in the volleyball playoffs, and both Adamek and Leist are members of the basketball and softball teams.

Leist plans to attend Texas State for nursing, while Adamek plans to attend Texas A&M and Hull Texas. While Hull plans to try out for Texas’ cheerleading squad, her favorite moment at St. Paul occurred on the volleyball court.

“Winning the region match my sophomore year to make it to state in volleyball was great,” Hull said. “I hope we can win state this year. We need to have a lot of teamwork, unity and passion.”

Wagner is in her first year as both a cheerleader and varsity volleyball player. She did cross country a year ago, but a hectic schedule forced her to give something up.

“School has to come first,” Wagner said. “I like cheerleading and volleyball is my favorite sport. It’s fun to be with your friends and compete for a state title.”

Malatek, like Wagner, is a first-timer at the Friday night double duty. She claims she couldn’t do it without her family’s support.

“It’s good to have my family to take me where I need to go,” Malatek said.

Nixon-Smiley has five volleyball players who pull Friday night double duty. Four of them (seniors Hailey Boatright and Treca DeLeon, and sophomores Miranda Carrillo and Meagan Stone) are cheerleaders, while the fifth (junior Savannah Martinez) is the mascot.

“I thought it would be fun to be the mascot, especially since I’m a funny person,” Martinez said. “It’s fun to interact with the kids, and I also get called ‘unicorn’ or ‘zebra’ by my friends.”

DeLeon is the veteran of Friday night double duty at Nixon-Smiley. She has been a varsity cheerleader for four years and a varsity volleyball player for three.

“I’ve been in Nixon forever,” DeLeon said. “I’ll miss playing volleyball, cheering and my friends.”

DeLeon plans to attend Texas State and become a wedding planner. She also plays basketball.

Boatright played varsity volleyball for four years, but didn’t cheer until this year. She cheered in junior high however.

“I always wanted to try out in high school, but the Houston Livestock Show is always around the same time as tryouts,” Boatright said. “I lucked out this year.”

Boatright also participates in basketball and track and field. She hopes to either play volleyball in college or show livestock, and is looking at Mary Hardin-Baylor, TLU, San Jacinto College or Wharton College for volleyball, or Sam Houston State to show livestock.

Stone is in her second year as a varsity cheerleader, but first as a varsity volleyball player. She is “excited” to do both.

“It’s different, but I love every minute of it,” Stone said.

Carrillo is doing varsity volleyball and cheer for the first time. But her favorite sport is softball.

“I try to make sure everything fits within my schedule,” Carrillo said. “Softball is my favorite sport. I practice hard and put a lot of effort into it.”

Shiner has four athletes who play varsity volleyball and cheer. They are seniors Emmalie Berkovsky and Lauren Oden, junior Amanise Coleman and sophomore Tabitha Blaschke.

“I’ve had years of practice at this,” Berkovsky said. “I’ve done everything for so long that I don’t know anything else. My mom also has pounded in my head that school comes first and I have to keep my priorities straight.”

Berkovsky is projected to be the Valedictorian of her class. She will miss “not knowing everyone” next year when she leaves for college.

Oden moved to Shiner from Tomball before her sophomore year. She has enjoyed her time in Shiner.

“Shiner is definitely a town of its own,” Oden said. “I’ve made some awesome friendships and amazing memories. I also matured as a person.”

Oden also participates in basketball and track and field. Her father, Brad, is the Shiner High School principal and he mother, Cece, is the head girls track and field coach as well as an assistant volleyball coach.

Coleman is doing both varsity sports for the second time this season. But her favorite sport is basketball.

“I love the way we play (run and press),” Coleman said. “The style of play is fun and I can play defense better in the run and press.”

Coleman hopes to play basketball in college. She is still debating whether or not she wants to participate in track and field this year.

Blaschke is participating not only in varsity cheer and volleyball for the first time, but also cross country. She enjoys her busy fall in spite of the occasional stress.

“It’s stressful at times because you leave early and get home late, and you still have homework on top of that,” Blaschke said. “It’s fun though.”

Things are about to get a little busier for Blaschke. The Shiner volleyball team is in the playoffs, the girls cross country team qualified for the region meet, and the football team is projected to make a playoff run as well.

Senior Miranda Sheffield and sophomore Claire Patterson are Luling’s Friday night double duty participants. Patterson is doing this for the first time.

“It’s very hectic,” Patterson said. “It gets crazy at times, but I’ve become an expert on time management.”

In addition to volleyball and cheer, Patterson also plays basketball and runs track and field. Her favorite sport is volleyball.

Sheffield is in her third and final year as a double-duty participant. She will not cheer or play volleyball in college unless it’s intramural or club.

“I learned to have a lot of patience,” Sheffield said. “I also learned that you have to have everything ready to go.”

Sheffield also plays softball for Luling. She plans to attend Angelo State, Austin Community College, Texas State or TLU next fall, but she will always hold her time at Luling near her heart.

“I’m going to miss all of my extracurricular activities and not having much to do next year,” Sheffield said.

She’ll really miss Friday nights, too.

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