Flippin’ over March Madness

By Bill Snead     Mar 19, 2004

Bill Snead/Journal-World Photo
Bill Snead/Journal-World Photo Basketball fans take on a different look when you're flying high above the floor at Allen Fieldhouse. Performing with confidence but without a net, freshman KU cheerleader Lauren Hutchinson, whose photo has been flipped to show her perspective, has her eyes locked on her "catchers" as she performs the "basket toss" stunt during the KU-Iowa State game, Feb. 2.
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Today, seconds before the Jayhawks bound onto the floor at Kemper Arena, Kansas University head cheerleader Marcus Bush will sprint across the court carrying a large KU flag streaming behind a 10-foot pole. His energetic cohorts will be close behind running, jumping and punching themselves and their pompoms high into the noisy air.

Pulse rates among the crimson and blue faithful will be rising, but the pregame pageantry can bring a lump to the throats of the cheerleaders as well.

“I started watching March Madness on TV with my father when I was 11 years old,” said Bush, a Hoffman Estates, Ill., senior. “We saw the great teams like North Carolina, Arizona and Duke, and all of a sudden here I am watching KU at that same level and having one of the best experiences of my life.”

Bush and other seniors on the cheerleading squad have been to two Final Fours and Sweet 16s, plus the Tangerine Bowl, and have overnighted in about 30 cities.

‘The best seat’

Ashley Schlotzhauer, a second-year cheerleader from Parkville, Mo., echoed Bush.

KU cheerleaders Heather Hellman, front to back, Brehan Smarkinsky and Abby Archer work on their tumbling technique during an evening practice at the Horesji Center.
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“I love it,” said the health and sports management major. “You can’t complain when you have the best seat at the game. Everybody would love to be down here, and it’s an honor to represent KU.”

And how do you get the best seats in the house?

Practice, practice, practice.

“I really don’t think people understand the commitment these young students make,” Cat Jarzemkoski said during a recent practice. She oversees KU’s Spirit Squad, which includes the cheerleaders, mascots and the dance team. She danced and coached for the Kansas City Chiefs cheerleaders for 25 years.

Comparing the personnel at Kansas City with KU is simple: “Same ages, same issues,” she said with a smile.

After practicing a stunt during pre-game warmups in the Horesji Center, Jen Hein, left, Megan Bryne and Lauren Hutchinson drop toward the outstretched arms of their squad members.
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Members of this year’s Spirit Squad began their season with tryouts 11 months ago, about a week after the Final Four in New Orleans.

After tryouts came summer practices, KU’s cheerleader camp in June, Traditions Night, Hawk Week, football at home and on the road, basketball’s “Late Night” in October, a December trip to the Tangerine Bowl and, in January, a return trip to Orlando for a national cheerleading and dance competition. Men’s and women’s basketball seasons overlap with volleyball in December, and March Madness is back before you can say “Rock Chalk.”

Time commitment

“There are times when you’re swamped with so many things to do,” Bush said. “But you’re with people you like and you get to know one another so well it’s fun even though at times you don’t want to be there.”

Megan Byrne, a senior from Conroe, Texas, said during a busy week the squad could spend 12 to 14 hours practicing and cheering. She said that if she has a daughter, she’s going to point her toward cheerleading.

At the beginning of the season the squad practices two hours, three times a week. It slides to two times a week when basketball season rolls around and then is nearly daily during preparation for national competition.

“We started the season with 65 Spirit Squad members,” Jarzemkoski said. “Today we’re down to 53, and that’s about the norm for us.”

Some students who made the squad transferred to other schools, a couple didn’t make the grades (2.0 grade-point average required), one was disciplined and some were injured. The squad’s overall grade-point average is 3.4.

‘In your hands’

The cheerleading squad usually carries eight men and 18 women.

Most of the practice time is spent perfecting stunts, like the basket toss that propels a cheerleader up to 40 feet in the air. They try to perfect stunts that look comparatively simple, like when a male cheerleader holds his female counterpart’s feet in his hands while she cheers with confidence while her head is 12 feet above the floor.

“You’ve got a girl putting her life, or her limbs, in your hands, and she’s asking you to take care of her,” the muscular Bush said. “The least you can do is to really try to stay in shape for them, develop trust, let her know that you’re going to catch her.”

Besides practice, Bush and his teammates work out at the Lawrence Athletic Club several times a week.

“When you’re throwing people around, even though they’re small, they’re not going to feel comfortable if you’re sucking wind,” Bush said.

Getting attention

Bush, at 6 feet tall, said he had bulked up to about 215 pounds. The girls range from 4 foot 11 inches tall to 5-foot-3 and weigh between 90 and 120 pounds.

During a cheerleader’s first year at KU, they receive a stipend of $150 a semester. After that the stipend drops to $50 per semester.

The competition for attention at a basketball game gets spread pretty thin among the game, the players, cell phones, trips to the rest rooms and concession stands.

Even when the cheerleaders are throwing one another high into the air it appears that many of the spectators consider them part of the woodwork and are looking elsewhere.

But that’s not how the cheerleaders see it from the floor.

“When a kid comes up asking you to sign his football or when you see a little girl in a cheerleading outfit looking up to the girls on the squad, and that you can hold someone in the air with one hand, that is so cool,” Bush said with a big smile.

text Flippin’ over March Madnesstext After more than 100 years, KU cheerleading has grown, changedtext The KU CheerleadersChoose from our 2 galleries, the first featuring photos from this year’s cheerleading team and the second featuring photos starting all the way back in 1899.photoGallery 1: lo-res | hi-resphotoGallery 2: lo-res | hi-resvideoVideo 1(Combined routine with the KU dance team):Play | DownloadvideoVideo 2(Interviews with current Cheerleaders):Play | Download
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