During a Women's Ultimate Frisbee practice on Sept. 11, junior Kimberly Daly throws a flying disc. The team met three times per week to play Frisbee together. Janae Callicoat Senior Erica Dobnikar cheers on the HU Bisons at the first home football game of the season Sept. 14. The cheerleaders motivated the team to a 69-0 victory over Northwestern Oklahoma. Jerry Eberly CONNECTIONS GENERATIONS CHEER TOGETHER M any students separated from their families when they moved to college, but senior Karli Blickenstaff saw even more of her mother, Kellee Blickenstaff, when she cheered for Harding. Karli cheered at Harding for four years. Kellee cheered for Harding in the 1980s before joining the team again in 1998 as the sponsor. Karli and Kellee spent extensive time together each week - practice three days a week and weekend games - but they worked well together. "I love having her around," Karli said. "She watched me cheer in high school and now in college, and I love that. Sometimes it's hard because it's your mom and you want things a certain way and she doesn't, but for the most part we think the same in terms of what looks good and what doesn't, so we don't butt heads too often." As a sponsor, Kellee oversaw the general management of the team, while the coach taught the gymnastics moves and specific cheers. According to freshman Marcie Master, Kellee was a dedicated sponsor who often worked late nights with the squad. "Kellee is great," Master said. "It is evident she cares so much about us and is proud of us. She wants us to look our very best out on the track, so we practice late trying to make it perfec~, and Kellee sits out there until almost curfew making sure we look our best." For Kellee, having a daughter on the team made her think carefully about how to handle the team dynamics and ensure that Karli worked as hard as everyone else. "If anything, I was more harsh, more critical of her, trying not to show that 'this is my daughter' kind of thing," Kellee said. "But she's always been a good leader, and I knew if she stuck with it, ~he'd be a captain this year because that's who she is." Though Kellee was passionate about cheerleading and wanted her daughter to join her on the Harding team, she taught Karli independence and allowed her to make her own decisions. "I definitely couldn't wait until she came over here, but I did not push her into cheerleading," Kellee said. "I wanted her to cheer badly, but that had to be a decision she had to make. She had to do her own thing over here for sure, so I sat back and let her make that decision on her own and obviously I was very pleased when she chose to cheer all four years." The relationship between Karli and Kellee was an invigorating element of the cheerleading squad, according to Master. Their enjoyment of one another's presence as well as their agreement on cheerleading styles strengthened the team. Cole Mokry
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